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CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION, 

MARTHA  WASHINGTON, 
MBS.  John"  ADAMS,       .... 

MARTHA  JEFFERSON  RANDOLPH," 
MRS.  DOLLY  PAINE  MADISON, 

JAMES  MONROE,       . 
MRS.  JOHN  QUINCT  ADAMS, 
MRS.  ANDREW  JACKSON, 

MRS.  :  «T, 

.  Jn., 

MARTIN  VAN   BUREN, 
MRS   ARRAM  VAN  BUREN,       . 
M  HENRY  BARS] 
IV  CHRISTIAN  TYLER, 

JULIA  GARDINER  TYLER, 
MRS.  JAMES  K.  TOLK,       .... 
MRS.  ZACKARY  TAYLOR,     . 
KRS.  MILLARD  FILLMORE,      . 
ABIGAIL   FILLMORE,      .... 
MRS.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE, 
HARRIET  LANE,     . 
MRS.  MARY  TODD  LINCOLN,    . 
MRS.  ANDREW  JOHNSON,     . 

MARTHA  FATTER- ON 

MARY  STOVER 

MRS.  U.  S.  GRANT,- 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE,      .... 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

NCSU  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/ladiesofwhitehoOOholl 


THE     LADIES 


WHITE     HOUSE. 


BT 

LAURA    CARTER    HOLLOWAY. 


fcHItt)    illUiii     Sttrl    QngrikU|i, 


"Ilouor  to  Women  I    to  them  it  is  gircn 
To  gurdeu  the  earth  with  the  rosea  of  hetTon."— Schiller. 


1871. 

UNITED  states  PUBLISHING  00., 
NEW  YORK,    CINCINNATI,   CHICAGO,    and  ST.  LOn? 
H.   n    BANCROFT  &  CO.,  SAN  FRANCIS" 


Entered,  a-  Bgi  ■  1*36, 

bt  lau:.  ;  --T. 

Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  tbe  ButhMl  I 

Of  H         Y 


LITTLS 

BELLE    PATTERSON", 

THE    BRIGHT    ORNAMENT    OF    THE    WniTE    1IOCSX 

Z  V  B  I  M  0      HKP.      GRANDFATHER'S      ADMINISTRATlCK, 

THI8    BOOK 

m  AFFECTION  ATtLY  DKDIOAZBD  BV  BD  I1UKNP, 

THE    AUTHORESS. 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


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INTRODUCTION. 


A  perusal  of  Strickland's  "  Queens  of  England  1 
first  originated  the  idea  of  writing  the  "  Ladies  of  tha 
White  House;1'  and  the  material  thus  dauntlessly  pre- 
sented to  the  public  is  the  result  of  the  desire  to  at- 
tempt  for  American  ladies  what  Miss  Strickland  has 
done  for  English  Queens. 

The  contrast  is  great ;  the  fault  lies  not  in  the  sub- 
ject treated,  nor  yet  in  the  biographer,  but  may  rather 
be  attributed  to  the  genius  of  our  simple  and  unosten- 
tatious form  of  government. 

The  work  is  barren  of  auy  grand  spectacular  or 
dramatic  incidents  so  calculated  to  interest,  but  the 
short  and  simple  annals  of  virtuous  and  exemplary 
women,  who  occupied  the  highest  social  and  semi- 
official position  known  to  their  country,  are  replete 
with  matter  "  to  point  a  moral  or  adorn  a  tale." 

The  genius  of  democratic  liberties  condemns  the 
assumed  emblems  of  nobility,  and  the  practice  of  pre- 
fixing titles  to  the  names  of  American  women  is  repre- 
hensible. We  do  but  ape  our  foreign  friends  and  ren- 
der ourselves  ridiculous,  when  we  forget  the  lessons 
inculcated  by  ancestors  who  fled  from  oppression,  and 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

gave  to  the  cause  of  freedom  their  blood — and  to  their 
descendants  the  unsullied  names  they  inherit. 

Though  politicians  and  designing  men  barter  away 
the  rights  of  the  land  as  expressed  in  the  Constitution, 
it  may  not  be  said  of  woman  that  she  ignores  the 
strides  she  has  made  under  so  benign  a  power,  or  for 
the  tinsels  of  courts  would  exchange  the  social  liberties 
and  position  she  has  gained. 

We  have  had  no  "  Queens  "  or  "  Drawing  rooms,1' 
properly  speaking,  but  u  Ladies"  and  "Receptions' 
have  been  the  synonymous  terms  whereby  we  have  at- 
tested the  stability  of  good  morals  and  refined  charac- 
ters. 

The  Ladies  of  the  White  House  have  had  no 
biographers.  The  customs  of  the  Republic,  which  re- 
turns to  private  life  those  who  have  served  it,  effectu- 
ally deterred  the  historian  from  venturing  on  such 
difficult  and  obscure  ground.  The  space  allotted  to 
them  has  been  confined  to  descriptions  of  their  per- 
sonal appearances  on  public  occasions,  or,  perhaps,  a 
mention  of  their  names  in  sketches  of  their  husbands. 

The  obstacles  are  innumerable,  and  the  reward 
hardly  commensurate  for  those  who  undertake  to  di- 
vest the  "  Ladies  v  of  party  favoritism  and  sectional 
prejudices.  A  truthful  writer  seeks  to  destroy  the 
unnatural  estimate  placed  upon  the  wives  of  the  Presi- 
dents, and  give  correct  impressions  of  their  worth. 
Personal  resentments  should  find  no  outlets  in  such  a 
form,  nor  should  the  memoirs  of  such  be  converted 
into  mutual  admiration  societies,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
discriminate praise  and  soulless  adulation.    In  all  cases 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

there  is  but  one  plain  rule  to  follow,  and  that  I  con- 
ceive to  be  a  truthful  expression  of  opinions,  founded 
on  a  fair  and  sufficiently  full  investigation. 

Biased  in  judgment  toward  none,  withholding 
naught  that  is  necessary  to  be  known,  and  fearless  in 
truth  to  myself,  as  to  the  persons  of  whom  I  write,  the 
book,  with  its  faults  and  merits,  is  committed  to  the 
care  of  a  discerning  public. 

Mrs.  Washington  has  been  more  fortunate  than  any 
succeeding  occupant  of  a  similar  position.  Her  life 
has  been  repeatedly  written,  and  the  few  interesting 
incidents  recorded  of  it  are  universally  known.  Wo- 
men, stimulated  with  a  desire  to  rescue  her  memory 
from  the  dust  of  years",  have  been  indefatigable  in  their 
labors,  and  I  can  offer  nothing  which  has  not  already 
been  more  ably  written. 

If  I  have  been  somewhat  minute  in  describing  the 
personal  appearance  of  the  subjects  of  my  sketches, 
my  reason  for  so  doing  lies  in  the  fact  that  I  believe 
we  are  so  wisely  created  that  our  outward  shapes  and 
figures  best  express  the  quality  of  our  inner  being. 

Many  noble  women  have  shared  the  popularity  of 
their  husbands'  high  place — not  a  few  strong,  gifted 
natures  have  been  content  to  lead  automaton  lives  in 
that  famous  old  mansion,  while  all  have  been  the  re- 
cipients of  their  country's  gratitude. 

To  the  many  kind  friends  who  have  contributed 
by  their  valuable  assistance  and  effectual  aid  toward 
the  success  of  this  volume,  I  can  only  add  here,  as  I 
have  expressed  elsewhere,  my  heartfelt  thanks  and 
grateful  acknowledgments. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

Among  the  numerous  friends  whose  pleasure  it  lias 
been  to  render  valuable  assistance,  I  may  mention  ex- 
President  Johnson,  Hon.  William  II.  Seward,  and 
Senator  Fowler.  Mrs.  Eebecca  Shunk,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  relative  and  friend  of  Miss  Harriet  Lane, 
has  my  profound  regard  for  the  very  accurate  sketch 
of  her  beautiful  kinswoman.  Colonel  John  Tyler, 
of  Washington,  and  Colonel  T.  B.  Thorpe,  of  New 
York  City,  have  evinced  their  interest  in  my  under- 
taking by  continued  acts  of  kindness,  Mr.  J.  T.  C. 
Clark,  for  the  valuable  manuscript  placed  at  my  dis- 
posal, and  which  has  been  of  great  service,  has  my  sin- 
cere thauks,  while  to  that  faithful  friend  of  childhood, 
Mr.  Anson  Nelson,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  whose 
eseal  in  my  behalf  is  in  keeping  with  the  golden  pre- 
cepts of  his  beautiful  life,  do  I  offer  unchanged  the 
affection  always  cherished  for  his  matchless  character. 
Nor  is  forgotten  Dr.  I.  G.  At  wood.  Mrs.  Virginia  Jef- 
ferson  Trist,  Mis3  Rhoda  Fuller,  Mrs.  Bottle  Harrison 
Eaton,  and  Col.  Richard  Cutts,  of  Washington  City. 

Xone  are  forgotten,  though  many  unmentioned,  of 
those  who  have  espoused  my  cause,  and  lent  willing 
hands  to  insure  success.  To  each  and  all  in  their 
widely-severed  homes  I  return  the  assurance  of  appre- 
ciation, and  unalterable  regard. 

Kbw  Tons,   October,  1869. 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 


MARTHA    WASHINGTON. 

The  first  who,  in  our  young  republic,  bore  the 
honors  as  a  President's  wife,  is  described  "as  being 
rather  below  the  middle  size,  but  extremely  well- 
shaped,  with  an  agreeable  countenance,  dark  hazel 
eyes  and  hair,  and  those  frank,  engaging  manners  so 
captivating  in  Southern  women.  She  was  not  a 
beauty,  but  gentle  and  winning  in  her  nature,  and 
eminently  congenial  to  her  illustrious  husband.  Dur- 
ing their  long  and  happy  married  life,  he  ever  wore 
her  likeness  on  his  heart.'"  "  It  was  in  1758  that  an 
officer,  attired  in  a  military  undress,  attended  by  a 
body-servant  tall  and  militaire  as  his  chief,  crossed 
the  ferry  over  the  Pamunkey,  a  branch  of  the  York 
River.  On  the  boat's  touching  the  southern  or  New 
Kent  side,  the  soldier's  progress  was  arrested  by  one 
of  those  personages  who  give  the  beau-ideal  of  the 
Virginia  gentleman  of  the  old  regime ;  the  very  soul 
of  kindliness  and  hospitality.  It  was  in  vain  the 
soldier  urged  his  business  at  Williamsburg ;  import- 
ant communications  to  the  Governor,  &c.  Mr.  Cham- 
berlayne,  on  whose   domain   the  militaire   had  just 


12  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

landed,  would  hear  no  excuse.  Colonel  "Washington 
was  a  name  and  character  so  dear  to  all  Virginians, 
that  his  passing  by  one  of  the  old  castles  of  Virginia 
without  calling  and  partaking  of  the  hospitalities 
the  host  was  entirely  out  of  the  question.  The 
Colonel,  however,  did.  not  surrender  at  discretion,  but 
stoutly  maintained  his  ground,  till  Chaniberlavne 
brought  up  his  reserve  in  the  intimation  that  he 
would  introduce  his  friend  to  a  young  and  charming 
widow  then  beneath  his  roof.  The  soldier  capitu- 
lated on  condition  that  he  should  dine,  only  dine, 
and  then,  by  pressing  his  charger,  and  borrowin_  I 
the  night,  he  would  reach  "Williamsburg  before  his 
Excellency  could  shake  off  his  morniug  slumbers. 
Orders  were  accordingly  issued  to  Bishop,  the  I 
net's  body-servant  and  faithful  follower,  who.  to- 
gether'  with  a  fine  English  charger,  had 
queathed  by  the  dying  Braddock  to  Major  "Washing- 
ton on  the  famed  and  fated  field  of  the  Monongahela. 
Bishop,  bred  in   the  school  of  E  n  discipline, 

raised  his  hand  to  his  cap,  as  much  as  to  say.  -  Your 
honor's  orders  shall  be  obeyed."  The  Colonel  now 
proceeded  to  the  mansion,  and  was  introduced  to 
various  guests  (for  when  was  a  Virginia  domicil  of 
the  olden  time  without  guests  T).  and.  above  all.  to 
the  charming  widow.  Tradition  relates  that  they 
were  mutually  pleased  on  this  their  firs:  interview, 
nor  is  it  remarkable ;  they  were  of  an  age  when  im- 
pressions are  strongest.  The  lady  was  fair  to  behold, 
of  fascinating  manners,  and  splendidly  endowed  with 
worldly  benefits ;  the  hero,  fresh  from  his  early  fields 


LADIES    OE    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  13 

redolent  of  fame,  and  with  a  form  on  which  "  every 
god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal,  to  give  the  world,  assur- 
ance of  a  man."  The  morning  passed  pleasantly 
away ;  evening  came,  with  Bishop,  true  to  his  orders 
and  firm  at  his  post,  holding  the  favorite  charger  with 
the  one  hand,  while  the  other  was  waiting  to  offer  the 
ready  stirrup.  The  sun  sank  in  the  horizon,  and  yet 
the  Colonel  appeared  not,  and  then  the  old  soldier 
wondered  at  his  chief's  delay.  "  'Twas  strange ;  'twas 
passing  strange."  Surely  he  was  not  wront  to  be  a 
single  moment  behind  his  appointments,  for  he  was 
the  most  punctual  of  all  punctual  men.  Meantime, 
the  host  enjoyed  the  scene  of  the  veteran  on  duty  at 
the  gate,  while  the  Colonel  was  so  agreeably  em- 
ployed.in  the  parlor ;  and  proclaiming  that  no  guest 
ever  left  his  house  after  sunset,  his  military  visitor  was, 
without  much  difficulty,  persuaded  to  order  Bishop  to 
put  up  the  horses  for  the  night.  The  sun  rode  high 
in  the  heavens  the  ensuing  day  when  the  enamored 
soldier  pressed  with  his  spur  his  charger's  sides  and 
sped  on  his  way  to  the  seat  of  government,  when, 
having  despatched  his  public  business,  he  retraced  his 
steps,  and  at  the  "  White  House  the  engagement  took 
place,  with  arrangements  for  the  marriage."  It  is 
pleasant  to  remember  that,  with  all  the  privations  and 
hardships  endured  by  both  in  after-years,  they  never 
encountered  poverty.  When  Colonel  Washington 
married  Mrs.  Custis,  the  ceremony  was  performed 
under  the  roof  of  her  own  home,  and  the  broad  lands 
connected  to  it  were  but  a  part  of  her  large  estate. 
Immediately  after   their   wedding,   which   has    been 


14  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

described  repeatedly  as  a  most  joyous  and  hap 
py  affair,  in  which  every  belle  and  beau  for  miles 
around  took  part,  they  repaired  at  once  to  Mount 
Vernon.  This  property,  a  gift  to  Colonel  Washing- 
ton from  his  elder  brother,  Lawrence,  was  situated  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  Potomac,  about  fifteen  miles 
from  Washington  City,  and  remarkable  for  the  mag- 
nificent view  of  the  river  in  front,  as  well  as  the  culti- 
vation and  adornment  of  the  vast  estate.  Here  for 
seventeen  bright  and  beautiful  years  they  enjoyed  the 
society  of  relatives  and  friends,  and  the  constant  com- 
panionship of  each  other.  During  those  years  of 
prosperity,  Mrs.  Washington  had  ample  opportunity 
to  manifest  that  elegance  of  manner  for  which  she  was 
remarkable.  In  her  girlhood,  as  Miss  Dandridge,  she 
had  enjoyed  the  best  society  of  Williamsburg,  and 
durinsr  Gov.  Dinwiddie's  residence  there,  she  had  been 
one  of  the  most  popular  and  admired  of  the  many 
blooming  girls  who  had  rendered  the  court  of  the 
Governor  attractive.  Married  when  very  young  to 
Colonel  Custis,  she  had  lived  in  comparative  seclusion 
on  his  farm,  devoting  her  time  to  her  husband  and 
children.  Endeared  to  each  other  by  the  warmest 
affection,  her  life  spent  in  dispensing  that  hospitality 
which  was  deemed  a  duty  and  a  virtue,  it  seemed  'as 
if  no  trouble  could  ever  mar  her  happiness.  Colonel 
Custis  was  a  gifted  and  refined  gentleman,  of  emi- 
nently agreeable  and  cultivated  sentiments,  and  the 
possessor  by  nature  of  a  generous  liberality  which 
rendered  him  popular  and  respected.  Here,  on  their 
plantation   home,  the  congenial    couple   planned   for 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  15 

their  infant  boy,  "  whose  unusual  mental  develop 
ments  gave  only  too  delusive  and  fleeting  promise 
of  the  future."  But  even  as  they  dwelt  upon  his 
manly  sports  and  coming  school-days,  death  came  for 
the  rare  treasure.  He  died,  and  with  him  went  out 
the  light  and  brightness  of  his  sensitive  parent,  who 
sank  prematurely  into  the  grave  ere  he  had  yet 
scarcely  passed  the  years  of  maturity.  Thus,  in  a 
little  while,  was  taken  the  boy  whose  existence  first 
called  into  being  all  the  deathless  love  of  a  mother, 
and  the  companion  and  loving  guide  whose  affection 
was  in  keeping  with  his  pure  and  elevated  mind. 
His  romantic  attention  never  diminished,  and  on  his 
death-bed  he  bade  her  take  charge  of  his  estate  and 
manage  for  herself  and  her  two  children. 

Nothing  remains  to  us  of  her  childhood  save  an 
indistinct  tradition ;  *  perhaps'  her  infant  years  were 
spent  at  her  father's  country  home,  unmarked  but  by 
the  gradual  change  of  the  little  one  into  the  shy 
young  girl.  That  she  was  educated  after  the  ex- 
igency of  her  time,  at  home,  is  likewise  a  truth  gath- 
ered from  the  echoes  of  the  past  generation.  Vir- 
ginia, in  those  early  days — for  she  was  born  in  May, 
1732 — possessed  no  educational  facilities,  and  the 
children  of  the  wealthy  were  either  sent  abroad  for 
accomplishments  unattainable  in  their  native  land,  or 
put  under  the  care  of  a  tutor  or  governess  at  home. 
Such  knowledge  as  she  possessed  of  the  world  was 
gleaned  from  the  few  books  she  read,  and  the  society 

*  She  was  a  descendant  of  the  Rev.  Orlando  Jones,   a  clergyman  of 
Wales. 


16  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  her  father's  friends,  for  she  had  never  been  farther 
from  home  than  Williamsburg. 

She  is  first  mentioned  as  a  rustic  beauty  and  belle 
at  the  British  Governor's  residence,  and  was  there 
addressed  by  Colonel  Custis.  After  her  marriage, 
she  returned  to  a  country  life,  and  for  several  years 
lived  in  that  old  baronial  style,  the  custom  of  the 
wealthy  in  the  Colony.  Her  home  was  not  far  dis- 
tent from  her  fathers  plantation,  and  these  fieeting 
years  were  so  fraught  with  every  conceivable  blessing 
that  her  young  heart  asked  no  other  boon.  The 
deaths  of  husband  and  child  were  the  mysteries  of 
the  inscrutable  will  of  Providence,  whereby  she  was 
to  accomplish  her  destiny.  The  war  with  the  French 
and  Indians  in  the  West,  and  the  defeat  and  death 
of  Braddock,  was  the  first  incident  of  public  note 
which  had  occurred  in  her  life,  and  was  followed  by 
deaths  in  her  family  which  so  materially  changed  the 
even  tenor  of  her  way. 

Time  soothed  the  wounds  naught  else  could  heal, 
and  the  young  widow  serenely  discharged  the  duties 
of  her  position.  "While  she  had  vindicated  the  trust 
reposed  in  her  by  the  success  with  which  she  con- 
trolled her  large  estate,  she  nevertheless  yielded  to 
the  persuasions  of  her  friends,  and  again  accepted  the 
protection  of  a  husband. 

She  was  twenty-six  years  old  when  she  first  saw 
Colonel  Washington  at  Mr.  Chamberlayne's,  and  was 
remarkably  youthful  and  handsome.  "  She  had  ever 
been  the  fortunate  object  of  warm  and  disinterested 
affection,"  and  from  her  first  entrance  into  the  society 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  17 

of  Williamsburg,  down  to  the  last  hour  of  her  life 
it  was  eminently  illustrated.  Few  Lad  been  her  sor- 
rows, and  for  each  and  every  one  endured  she  could 
count  a  twofold  blessing.  There  was  nothing  in  her 
life  to  foster  the  faults  incident  to  human  nature,  for 
the  rank  weeds  of  poverty  and  bitterness  which 
cramp  and  deform  so  many  earth-lives,  were  unfelt 
and  unknown  to  her. 

Subsequent  to  her  marriage  to  Colonel  Washing- 
ton she  resided  at  his  home,  now  for  the  first  time 
graced  by  the  presence  of  a  mistress.  It  had  been 
the  pleasant  retreat  of  Colonel  Lawrence  Washing- 
ton's bachelor  friends,  and  the  occasional  residence  of 
his  younger  brother,  but  never  a  congenial  place  of 
abode  until  he  established  his  young  wife  there, 
whose  happiness  was  to  be  in  future  his  peculiar 
care.  Her  life  wTas  similar  to  her  former  position  as 
Mrs.  Custis,  for  she  was  again  the  wife  of  a  wealthy, 
prosperous  planter,  accustomed  to  the  most  refined 
society  of  the  country,  and  occasionally  accompany- 
ing her  husband  to  Williamsburg,  where  he  was  for 
fifteen  successive  years  a  member  of  the  Legislature. 

"  How  noiseless  falls  the  foot  of  time 
That  only  treads  on  flowers  !  " 

Engaged  in  fascinating  pleasures  and  congenial 
pursuits,  it  did  not  occur  to  Mrs.  Washington  how 
many  summers  of  fragrantly  blooming  flowers  and 
ripening  fruits  had  sunk  into  the  nnreturning  past ; 
nor  did  she  consider  that  the  long  lapse  of  time  in 
which  she  had  been  sc  happy  had  meted  to  others 


18  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

measured  drops  of  bitterness,  turning  all  their  bar- 
vest-times  into  chilling,  dreary  winter.  There  came 
to  her  a  time  when  the  pleasant  home-life  had  to  he 
abandoned,  and  for  eight  years  the  harmony  of  do- 
mestic peace  was  banished. 

The  following  letter,  the  only  one  preserved  of 
the  many  addressed  to  her,  is  full  of  interest,  and  is 
replete  with  that  thoughtfuiness  which  characterized 
"Washington  in  his  capacity  as  a  husband.  Mrs. 
Washington,  shortly  before  her  death,  destroyed 
every  testimonial  of  this  kind,  unwilling  that  any 
other  should  read  these  evidences  of  affection : 

"  Philadelphia.  13th  June,  1775. 

"  Mr  Deaeest  :  I  am  now  set  down  to  write  to 
you  on  a  subject  which  fills  me  with  inexpressible 
concern,  and  this  concern  is  greatly  aggravated  and 
increased  when  I  reflect  upon  the  uneasiness  I  know 
it  will  give  you.  It  has  been  determined  in  Con- 
gress that  the  whole  army  raised  for  the  defence  of 
the  American  cause  shall  be  put  under  my  care,  and 
that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  proceed  immediately  to 
Boston  to  take  upon  me  the  command  of  it. 

"  You  may  believe  me,  my  dear  Patsy,  when  I 
assure  you,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  that,  so  far 
from  seeking  this  appointment,  I  have  used  every 
endeavor  in  my  power  to  avoid  it,  not  only  from  my 
unwillingness  to  part  with  you  and  the  family,  but 
from  a  consciousness  of  its  beino-  a  trust  too  srreat  for 
my  capacity,  and  that  I  should  enjoy  more  real  hap- 
piness in  one  month  with  you  at  home,  than  I  have 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  19 

the  most  distant  prospects  of  finding  abroad  if  my 
stay  were  to  be  seven  times  seven  years.  But  as  it 
has  been  a  kind  of  destiny  that  has  thrown  me  upon 
this  service,  I  shall  hope  that  my  undertaking  it  is 
designed  to  answer  some  good  purpose.  Yon  might, 
and  I  suppose  did,  perceive,  from  the  tenor  of  my 
letter,  that  I  was  apprehensive  I  could  not  avoid 
this  appointment,  as  I  did  not  pretend  to  intimate 
when  I  should  return.  That  was  the  case.  It  was 
utterly  out  of  my  power  to  refuse  this  appointment, 
without  exposing  my  character  to  such  censures  as 
would  have  reflected  dishonor  upon  myself,  and  given 
pain  to  my  friends.  This,  I  am  sure,  could  not  and 
ought  not  to  be  pleasing  to  you,  and  must  have 
lessened  me  considerably  in  my  own  esteem.  I  shall 
rely,  therefore,  confidently  on  that  Providence  which 
has  heretofore  preserved  and  been  bountiful  to  me, 
not  doubting  but  that  I  shall  return  safe  to  you  in 
the  Fall.  I  shall  feel  no  pain  from  the  toil  or  danger 
of  the  campaign ;  my  unhappiness  will  flow  from  the 
uneasiness  I  know  you  will  feel  from  being  left  alone. 
I  therefore  beg  that  you  will  summon  your  whole 
fortitude,  and  pass  your  time  as  agreeably  as  possible. 
Nothing  else  will  give  me  so  much  sincere  satisfaction 
as  to  hear  this,  and  to  hear  it  from  your  own  pen. 
My  earnest  and  ardent  desire  is,  that  you  would  pur- 
sue any  plan  that  is  most  likely  to  produce  content 
and  a  tolerable  degree  of  tranquillity,  as  it  must  add 
greatly  to  my  uneasy  feelings  to  hear  that  you  are 
dissatisfied  or  complaining  at  what  I  really  could  not 
avoid. 


20  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 

"  As  life  is  always  uncertain,  and  common  pru- 
dence dictates  to  every  man  the  necessity  of  settling 
his  temporal  concerns  while  it  is  in  his  power,  I  have, 
since  I  came  to  this  place — for  I  had  no  time  to  do  it 
before  I  left  home — got  Colonel  Pendleton  to  draft  a 
will  for  me  by  the  directions  I  gave  him,  which  I  will 
now  enclose.  The  provisions  made  for  you,  in  case 
of  my  death,  will,  I  hope,  be  agreeable.  I  shall  add 
nothing  more,  as  I  have  several  letters  to  write,  but 
to  desire  that  you  will  remember  me  to  your  friends, 
and  to  assure  you  that  I  am,  with  the  most  unfeigned 
regard,  my  dear  Patsy, 

"  Your  affectionate 

"  Geokge  Washington." 

This  trial  of  separation  was  mitigated,  although 
often  prolonged  to  weary  months.  Ever  when  the 
long  Indian  summer  days  of  October  shed  glory  over 
the  burnished  forest  trees,  her  cumbrous  carriage, 
with  its  heavy  hangings  and  massive  springs,  sug- 
gestive of  comfort,  was  brought  to  the  door  and 
laden  with  all  the  appurtenances  of  a  winter's  visit. 
Year  after  year  as  she  had  ordered  supplies  for  this 
annual  trip  to  her  husband's  camp,  she  trusted  it 
would  be  the  last;  and  each  time  as  the  servants 
cooked  and  packed  for  this  too  oft-repeated  absence, 
they  wished  it  might  hurry  him  home,  to  remember 
how  many  were  needing  his  presence  there.  The 
battles  were  fierce  and  the  struggles  long,  and  if  the 
orderly  matron  disliked  the  necessity  of  leaving  home 
bo  often  and  for  so  long  a  time,  her  heart  was  glad 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  21 

of  the  sacrifice  when  she  reached  the  doubly  anxious 
husband  who  was  watching  and  waiting  for  her— 
anxious  for  his  wife,  somewhere  on  the  road,  and  for 
his  bleeding  country,  struggling  unavailingly  for  the 
eternal  principles  of  freedom.  It  was  her  presence 
that  lent  sunshine  to  the  oft-times  dispirited  com- 
mander, and  sent  a  gleam  of  sunshine  to  the  hearts 
of  the  officers,  who  saw  in  her  coming  the  harbinger 
of  their  own  happiness.  For  it  was  an  established 
custom,  for  all  who  could,  to  send  for  their  families 
after  the  commander  had  received  and  welcomed  his. 
General  Washington,  after  her  annual  trip,  always 
wrote  to  persons  who  had  been  attentive  and  oblig- 
ing, and  punctually  thanked  every  one  who  had  in 
any  way  conduced  to  her  comfort  during  her  tedious 
stages  from  Mount  Yernon.  Never  but  once  or  twice 
had  those  yearly  moves  been  disagreeable,  and  though 
universally  unoffending,  she  felt  the  painful  effects  of 
party  bitterness ;  but  the  noble  intrepidity  of  General 
Washington  relieved  the  depressing  influences  of  such 
unusual  occurrences.  Her  own  pride  suffered  nothing 
in  comparison  to  the  natural  sensitiveness  she  felt  for 
her  husband's  fair  fame,  and  the  coldness  on  the  part 
of  others  affected  only  as  it  reflected  on  her  noble 
protector.  Once,  after  an  active  campaign,  as  she  was 
passing  through  Philadelphia,  she  was  insulted  by  the 
ladies  there,  who  declined  noticing  her  by  any  civil- 
ities whatever.  The  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  came, 
and,  alas  for  human  nature  !  many  of  these  haughty 
matrons  were  the  first  to  welcome  her  there  as  the 
wife  of  the  President. 


22  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Mrs.  Washington  -was  extremely  plain  in  her 
dress,  and  displayed  little  taste  for  those  luxurious 
ornaments  deemed  appropriate  for  the  wealthy  and 
great.  In  her  own  home  the  spinning  wheels  and 
looms  were  kept  constantly  going,  and  her  dresses 
were,  many  times,  woven  by  her  servants.  General 
Washington  wore  at  his  inauguration  a  full  suit  of 
fine  cloth,  the  handiwork  of  his  own  household.  At 
a  ball  given  in  New  Jersey  in  honor  to  herself,  she 
wrore  a  "  simple  russet  gown,"  and  white  handker- 
chief about  her  neck,  thereby  setting  an  example  to 
the  women  of  the  Revolution,  who  could  ill  afford  to 
spend  their  time  or  means  as  lavishly  as  they  might 
have  desired.  "  On  one  occasion  she  gave  the  best 
proof  of  her  success  in  domestic  manufactures,  by  the 
exhibition  of  two  of  her  dresses,  which  were  com- 
posed of  cotton,  striped  with  silk,  and  entirely  home- 
made.'1 The  silk  stripes  in  the  fabric  were  woven 
from  "  the  ravelings  of  brown  silk  stockings  and  old 
crimson  chair-covers ! " 

When  peace  was  declared  and  her  mantle  folded 
round  the  suffering  young  Republic,  Mrs.  Washington 
welcomed  to  Mount  Vernon  her  hero-husband,  who 
naturally  hoped  that  he  might  "move  gently  down  the 
stream  of  life  until  he  slept  with  his  fathers."  But  a 
proud,  fond  nation  called  him  again  from  his  retreat 
to  guide  the  helm  of  its  boat ;  nor  was  he  who  had 
fought  her  battles  and  served  her  well  recreant  now. 

Mrs.  Washington's  crowning  glory  in  the  world's 
esteem  is  the  fact  that  she  was  the  bosom  companion 
of  the  "Father  of  his  Country;"  but  her  fame  as 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  23 

Martha  Dandiids-e,  and  afterward  as  Martha  Custis, 
is  due  alone  to  her  moral  worth.  To  her,  as  a  girl 
and  woman,  belonged  beauty,  accomplishments,  and 
great  sweetness  of  disposition.  Nor  should  we,  in 
ascribing  her  imperishable  memory  to  her  husband's 
Greatness,  fail  to  do  reverence  to  the  noble  attributes 
of  her  own  nature ;  yet  we  cannot  descend  to  the 
hyperbolical  strain  so  often  indulged  in  by  writers 
when  speaking  of  Mrs.  Washington.  In  tracing  the 
life  of  an  individual,  it  becomes  necessary  to  examine 
the  great  events  and  marked  incidents  of  the  times, 
and  to  most  generally  form  from  such  landmarks  the 
motives  that  prompted  the  acts  of  an  earth-existence. 
More  especially  is  this  necessary  if  the  era  in  which 
our  subject  lived  was  remarkable  for  any  heroic  deeds 
or  valorous  exploits  which  affected  the  condition  of 
mankind.  Personally,  Mrs.  Washington's  life  was  a 
smooth  and  even  existence,  save  as  it  was  stirred  by 
some  natural  cause,  but,  viewed  in  connection  with 
the  historical  events  of  her  day,  it  became  one  of 
peculiar  interest. 

As  a  wife,  mother,  and  friend,  she  was  worthy  of 
respect,  but  save  only  as  the  companion  of  Washing- 
ton is  her  record  of  public  interest.  She  was  in  no 
wise  a  student,  hardly  a  regular  reader,  nor  gifted 
with  literary  ability ;  but  if  that  law,  stem  necessity, 
which  knows  no  deviation,  had  forced  her  from  her 
seclusion  and  luxury,  hers  would  have  been  an  organ- 
ization of  active  goodness.  Most  especially  would 
she  have  been  a  benevolent  woman,  and  it  is  to  be 
regretted  by  posterity  as  a  misfortune  that  there  was 


24  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

no  real  urgency  for  a  more  useful  life.  Her  good  foT 
tune  it  was  to  be  a  wealthy  Southerner,  young  and 
attractive;  and  if  she  was  not  versed  in  the  higher 
branches  of  literature,  it  was  no  fault  of  her  own, 
probably,  since  the  drawbacks  incident  to  the  pur- 
suit of  knowledge,  under  the  difficulties  and  obstacles 
of  a  life  in  a  new  country,  together  with  their  early 
marriages,  deterred  women  from  "  drinking  deep  of 
the  Pierean  spring  ; "  but,  under  the  benign  influences 
of  Christian  morality,  the  children  of  the  Old  Domin- 
ion were  carefully  and  virtuously  trained,  and  were 
exemplary  daughters,  wives,  and  mothers. 

Many  have  occupied  the  nominal  position  Mrs. 
Washington  held,  but,  in  reality,  no  American,  or, 
indeed,  no  woman  of  earth,  will  ever  be  so  exalted  in 
the  hearts  of  a  nation  as  was  she ;  and  yet  there  is 
no  single  instance  recorded  of  any  act  of  heroism  of 
hers,  although  she  lived  in  "  times  that  tried  men's 
souls,"  and  was  so  intimately  associated  through  her 
husband  with  all  the  great  events  of  the  Revolution. 
"  Nor  does  it  appear,  from  the  documents  handed 
down  to  us,  that  she  was  a  very  notable  housewife, 
but  rather  inclined  to  leave  the  matter  under  her 
husband's  control,  whose  method  and  love  of  do- 
mestic life  admirably  fitted  him  to  manage  a  large 
establishment."  "  They  evidently  lived  together  on 
very  excellent  terms,  though  she  sometimes  was  dis- 
posed to  quarrel  with  him  about  the  grand-children, 
who  he  insisted  (and  he  always  carried  the  point) 
should  be  under  thorough  disciplinarians,  as  well  as 
competent  teachers,  when  they  were  sent  from  home 
o  be  educated." 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  25 

It  was  a  source  of  regret  that  she  bore  no  children 
to  him,  but  an  able  writer  has  said  :  "  Providence  left 
him  childless  that  he  mio-ht  be  the  father  of  his 
country."  It  is  hard  to  judge  whether  or  not  it  was 
a  blessing;  but  it  certainly  has  not  detracted  from  his 
greatness  that  he  left  no  successor  to  his  fame.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  all  the  brighter  from  having  no 
cloud  to  dim  the  solitary  grandeur  of  his  spotless 
name.  Few  sons  of  truly  great  and  illustrious  men 
have  ever  reflected  honor  upon  the  father,  and  many 
have  done  otherwise.  When  we  consider  how  many 
representative  men  of  the  world,  in  all  nations  and 
ages,  have  been  burdened  and  oppressed  with  the 
humiliating  conduct  of  their  children,  let  it  be  a 
source  of  joy,  rather  than  of  regret,  that  there  was 
but  one  Washington,  either  by  the  ties  of  consan- 
guinity or  the  will  of  Providence.  This  pure  char- 
acter was  never  marred  by  any  imperfect  type  of  his 
own,  and  in  his  life  we  recognize  the  fact  that  occa- 
sionally, in  great  emergencies,  God  lifts  up  a  man  for 
the  deed ;  when  the  career  is  ended,  the  model,  though 
not  the  example,  is  lost  to  the  world. 

Mrs.  Washington's  two  children  were  with  her 
the  bright  years  of  her  life  intervening  between  her 
marriage  and  the  Kevolution.  Her  daughter  was  fast 
budding  into  womanhood,  and  how  beautiful,  thought 
tl^e  loving  mother,  were  the  delicate  outlines  of  her 
fair  young  face !  Airy  castles  and  visionary  heaps 
of  splendor  reared  their  grand  proportions  in  the 
twilight-clouds  of  her  imagination ;  and  in  the  sun- 
light  of  security  she  saw  not,  or,  if  perchance  did  de- 


26  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

fine,  the  indistinct  outlines  of  the  spectre,  grim  and 
gaunt,  heeded  not  its  significant  appearance  at  her 
festive  board. 

In  all  the  natural  charms  of  youth,  freshness,  and 
worldly  possessions,  the  mother's  idol,  the  brother's 
playmate,  and  fathers  cherished  daughter,  died,  and 
the  light  of  the  house  went  out,  and  a  wail  of 
anguish  filled  the  air  as  the  night  winds  rushed  hur- 
ryingly  past  that  desolate  home  on  the  shore  of  the 
murmuriug  river. 

A  great  purpose  was  born  out  of  that  grief:  a 
self-abnegated  firmness  to  rise  above  the  passionate 
lamentations  of  selfish  sorrow ;  and  though  after 
ward,  for  long  and  saddened  years,  a  shadow  of  a 
former  woe  rested  upon  that  quiet  place,  the  poor 
loved  it  better  than  ever  before,  and  meek  charity 
found  more  willing  hands  than  in  the  days  of  reck- 
less happiness.  Religion,  too,  and  winning  sympathy, 
softened  the  poignant  grief,  and 

"  The  fates  unwound  the  hall  of  time, 
And  dealt  it  out  to  man.v 

The  cannon  of  the  Continental  Militia  at  Lexine- 
ton  belched  forth  its  hoarse  sound  on  the  morning  of 
the  15th  of  April,  1775,  as  in  the  gray  twilight  of 
approaching  day  a  band  of  invaders  u  sallied  up  to 
demand  the  dispersion  of  the  rebels.  The  echo  of 
those  reports  went  ringing  through  the  distant  forests, 
and  fleetest  couriers  carried  its  tidings  beyond  the 
rippling  waves  of  the  Potomac,  calling  the  friends  of 
freedom  to  arms.     Mrs.  Washington  heard  the  war- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  27 

cry,  and  felt  that  the  absence  of  her  husband  was 
now  indefinite;  for  she  knew  that  from  his  post  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation  he  would  go  to  serve  his 
country  in  the  field.  Nor  was  she  mistaken  in  her 
conclusions. 

She  met  the  Commander-in-chief  at  his  winter 
headquarters  at  Cambridge,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
a  year,  in  December,  1775,  and  continued  during  the 
Revolution  to  go  each  winter  to  his  headquarters.  In 
early  spring  she  returned  to  her  home,  leaving  be- 
hind her  only  child,  whose  desire  to  remain  with  his 
adopted  father  obtained  from  her  a  reluctant  consent. 
'•For  usefulness  and  honor  she  had  reared  him  to 
manhood,  and  to  her  country  she  now  resigned  this 
last  lingering  scion  of  maternal  hope  and  joy,"  and 
returned  to  Mount  Vernon  accompanied  by  her 
daug-hter-in-law.* 

o 

The  next  winter  she  passed  at  Morristo.wn,  New 
Jersey,  where  she  experienced  some  of  the  real  hard- 
ships and  sufferings  of  camp-life.  The  previous  sea- 
son, at  Cambridge,  the  officers  and  their  families  had 
resided  in  the  mansions  of  the  Tories,  who  had  de- 
serted them  to  join  the  British ;  but  at  Morristown 
she  occupied  a  small  frame-house,  without  any  con- 
venience or  comforts,  and,  as  before,  returned  in  the 
spring,  with  her  daughter-in-law  and  children. 

Valley  Forge,  during  the  last  months  of  1777  and 
the  early  part  of  1778,  was  the  scene  of  the  severest 


*  Mr.  Parke  Custis  was  married  to  Miss  Neily  Calvert  the  3rd  of 
February  1774. 


28  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

sufferings,  replete  with  more  terrible  want  than  any 
ever  known  in  the  history  of  the  Colonies." 

Daring  all  this  season  of  horrors.  Mrs.  Washington 
remained  with  her  husband,  trying  to  comfort  and 
animate  him  in  the  midst  of  his  trials.  Succeeding 
years  brought  the  same  routine,  and  victory  and  de- 
feat walked  ofttimes  hand  in  hand.  October  of  1781 
brought  "glad  tidings  of  great  joy"  in  the  capture 
of  Yorktown,  and  nothing  seemed  to  defer  the  Ions' 
anticipated  return  of  General  Washington  to  his 
family  and  friends. 

Ere  yet  the  shouts  of  victory  rang  out  upon  the 
listening  ear  of  a  continent,  Colonel  Custis  was  borne 
from  the  scene  of  triumph  to  a  village  in  New  Kent 
County  to  die,  and  soon  the  messenger  startled  the 
inmates  of  Mount  Vernon  with  the  mournful  intelli- 
gence. Washington,  amid  the  intense  joy  of  his 
troops,  could  not  conceal  his  anxious  feelings  for  this 
deeply  loved  son  of  his  adoption,  and  his  heart  went 
out  to  his  crushed  wife.  "  He  left  Yorktown  on  the 
5th  of  November,  and  reached,  the  same  day,  the 
residence  of  his  old  friend,  Colonel  Bassett.  He  ar- 
rived just  in  time  to  receive  the  last  breath  of  John 
Parke  Custis,  as  he  had  several  years  previously  ren- 
dered tender  and  pious  offices  at  the  death-bed  of  his 


*  Six  miles  above  iforristown,  Xew  Jersey,  and  twenty  from  Phil- 
adelphia, on  the  Schuylkill  River,  is  the  deep  hollow  known  as  Valley 
Forge.  It  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  Valley  Creek,  and  on  either  side 
rise  the  mountains  above  this  lonely  spot.  To  the  fact  that  in  this 
valley  there  had  once  been  several  forges,  it  owes  its  name,  and  here 
Washington  found  winter  quarters  for  his  suffering  army 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


29 


sister,  Miss  Custis.     The  deceased  Lad  been  tLe  object 
of  Washington's  care  from  cLildLood,  and  been  cLer- 
isLed  by  Lira,  with  paternal  affection.     Eeared  under 
Lis  guidance  and  instructions,  Le  Lad  been  fitted  to 
take  a  part  in  the  public  concerns  of  his  country, 
and  had  acquitted  himself  with  credit  as  a  member 
of  the  Virginia  Legislature.     He   was   but   twenty- 
eight  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  left  a 
widow  and  fonr  young  children.      It  was  an  unex- 
pected   event,    and    the    dying-scene   was    rendered 
peculiarly  affecting  from  the  presence  of  the  mother 
and  wife   of    the   deceased.*    Washington   remained 
several   days   at   Eltham   to   comfort   them   in  their 
affliction.     As  a  consolation  to  Mrs.  "Washington  in 
her  bereavement,  he  adopted  the  two  youngest  chil- 
dren of  the  deceased,  a  boy  and  girl,  who  thenceforth 
formed  a  part  of  his  immediate  family." 

Mrs.  Washington  did  not  know  that  her  husband 
had  left  the  scene  of  his  triumph,  until  he  suddenly 
appeared  in  the  room  of  death ;  and  it  calmed  her  to 
have  his  presence  in  so  trying  an  hour.  He  returned 
with  the  sad  mourners  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  mingled 
with  those  two  sorrowful  hearts  the  tears  of  his  own 

sad  soul. 

The  world  and  its  cares  called  him  hence,  and  he 
turned  away  from  his  quiet  home  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  his  country  for  his  services.  Congress  re- 
ceived him  in  Philadelphia  with  distinguished  honors, 
and  he  everywhere  was  the  recipient  of  his  country's 
love  and  reverence. 

Called  from   his  retirement  to   preside  over  the 


30  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

destinies  of  his  country  as  its  first  President,  Wash- 
ington immediately  left  his  home  and  repaired  to 
New  York  City,  the  seat  of  government  * 

Our  young  country  demanded,  in  the  beginning, 
that  regard  for  forms  and  etiquette  which  would  com- 
mand respect  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  courts ;  and,  act- 
ins:  in  accordance  with  this  design,  the  house  of  the 
first  President  was  furnished  with  elegance,  and  its 
routine  was  arranged  in  as  formal  a  manner  as  that 
of  the  St.  James  or  St.  Cloud. 

Always  an  aristocrat,  Mrs.  Washington's  adminis- 
tration as  u  hostess ?'  was  but  a  reproduction  of  the 
customs  and  ceremonies  of  foreign  heads  of  govern- 
ment,  and  her  receptions  were  arranged  on  the  plan 
of  the  English  and  French  drawing-rooms. 

She  assumed  the  duties  of  her  position,  as  wife  of 
the  Chief  Magistrate,  with  the  twofold  advantage  of 
wealth  and  high  social  position,  and  was,  in  manner, 
appearance,  and  character,  the  pleasing  and  graceful 
representative  of  a  class  of  which,  unfortunately,  the 
original  is  now  taken  from  us,  u  a  lady  of  tlie  olden  time:' 

Reared  as  she  had  been,  a  descendant  of  the 
chivalry  of  Virginia,  who  in  their  turn  were  the  de- 
scendants of  the  English  nobility — aristocratic,  proud, 
and  pleased  with  her  lofty  position — she  brought  to 
bear  all  the  brightness  of  a  prosperous  existence,  and 
her  influence  extended  to  foreign  lands. 

*  The  journey  to  New  York  was  a  continued  triumph.  The  august 
spectacle  at  the  bridge  of  Trenton  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  the 
Chief,  and  forms  one  of  the  most  brilliant  recollections  of  the  age  of 
Washington. 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  31 

The  levees  held  at  the  Kepublican  Court — then 
located  at  No.  3  Franklin  Square,  New  York — were 
numerously  attended  by  the  fashionable  and  refined 
of  the  city.  The  rules  of  the  establishment  were 
rigorous,  and  persons  were  excluded  unless  in  the 
dress  required.  Access  was  not  easy,  and  dignified 
statelinesss  reigned  over  the  mansion  of  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  subjoined  let- 
ter, written  to  Mrs.  Warren  soon  after  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton's arrival  at  the  seat  of  government,  will  present 
her  views  on  the  subject  of  her  elevation  more  cor 
rectly  than  detached  extracts  from  other  books. 

"  Your  very  friendly  letter  of  last  month  has 
afforded  me  much  more  satisfaction  than  all  the 
formal  compliments  and  empty  ceremonies  of  mere 
etiquette  could  possibly  have  done.  I  am  not  apt  to 
forget  the  feelings  which  have  been  inspired  by  my 
former  society  with  good  acquaintances,  nor  to  be 
insensible  to  their  expressions  of  gratitude  to  the 
President;  for  you  know  me  well  enough  to  do  me 
the  justice  to  believe  that  I  am  fond  only  of  what 
comes  from  the  heart.  Under  a  conviction  that  the 
demonstrations  of  respect  and  affection  to  him  origi- 
nate in  that  source,  I  cannot  deny  that  I  have  taken 
some  interest  and  pleasure  in  them.  The  difficulties 
which  presented  themselves  to  view  upon  his  first 
entering  upon  the  Presidency,  seem  thus  to  be  in 
some  measure  surmounted.  It  is  owing  to  the  kind- 
ness of  our  numerous  friends  in  all  quarters  that  my 
new  and  unwished-for  situation  is  not  a  burden  to 


82  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

me.  AYhen  I  was  mucli  younger,  I  should  probably 
have  enjoyed  the  innocent  gayeties  of  life  as  much  as 
most  persons  of  my  age ;  but  I  had  long  since  placed 
all  prospects  of  my  future  worldly  happiness  in  the 
still  enjoyment  of  the  fireside  at  Mount  Vernon.  I  . 
little  thought,  when  the  war  was  finished,  that  anv 
circumstances  could  possibly  happen  which  would 
call  the  General  into  public  life  again.  I  had  antici- 
pated that  from  that  moment  we  should  be  suffered 
to  grow  old  together  in  solitude  and  tranquillity. 
That  was  the  first  and  dearest  wish  of  my  heart.  I 
will  not,  however,  contemplate,  with  too  much  regret, 
disappointments  that  were  inevitable,  though  his  feel- 
ings and  my  own  were  in  perfect  unison  with  re- 
spect to  our  predilection  for  private  life ;  yet  I  can- 
not blame  him  for  having  acted  according  to  his 
ideas  of  duty  in  obeying  the  voice  of  his  country. 
The  consciousness  of  having  attempted  to  do  all  the 
good  in  his  power,  and  the  pleasure  of  finding  his 
fellow-citizens  so  well  satisfied  with  the  disinterested- 
ness of  his  conduct,  will  doubtless  be  some  compen- 
sation for  the  great  sacrifices  which  I  know  he  has 
made,  Indeed,  on  his  journey  from  Mount  Vernon 
to  this  place,  in  his  late  tour  through  the  Eastern 
States,  by  every  public  and  every  private  informa- 
tion which  has  come  to  him,  I  am  persuaded  he  ha- 
experienced  nothing  to  make  him  repent  his  having 
acted  from  what  he  conceives  to  be  a  sense  of  indis- 
pensable duty.  On  the  contrary,  all  his  sensibility 
has  been  awakened  in  receiving  such  repeated  and 
unequivocal  proofs  of  sincere  regard  from  his  coun- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  33 

tryinen.  With  respect  to  myself,  I  sometimes  think 
the  arrangement  is  not  quite  as  it  ought  to  have 
been;  tbat  I,  who  had  much  rather  be  at  home, 
should  occupy  a  place  with  wrhich  a  great  many 
younger  and  gayer  women  wTould  be  extremely 
pleased.  As  my  grand-children  and  domestic  con- 
nections make  up  a  great  portion  of  the  felicity 
which  I  looked  for  in  this  world,  I  shall  hardly  be 
able  to  find  any  substitute  that  wrill  indemnify  me 
for  the  loss  of  such  endearing  society.  I  do  not  say 
this  because  I  feel  dissatisfied  with  my  present  sta- 
tion, for  every  body  and  every  thing  conspire  to  make 
me  as  contented  as  possible  in  it ;  yet  I  have  learned 
too  much  of  the  vanity  of  human  affairs  to  expect 
felicity  from  the  scenes  of  public  life.  I  am  still  de 
termined  to  be  cheerful  and  happy  in  whatever  situ- 
ation I  may  be ;  for  I  have  also  learned  from  experi- 
ence that  the  greater  part  of  our  happiness  or  misery 
depends  on  our  dispositions  and  not  on  our  circum- 
stances. We  carry  the  seeds  of  the  one  or  the  other 
about  Avith  us  in  our  minds,  wherever  we  go." 

The  second  year  of  Washington's  administration, 
the  seat  of  government  was  removed  to  Philadelphia. 
Mrs.  Washington  was  sick  when  she  started  on  the 
journey,  and  remained  in  Philadelphia  until  she  was 
strong  enough  to  go  on  to  Mount  Vernon. 

The  late  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  for  a  long  time 
President  of  Princeton  College,  and  one  of  the  early 
Chaplains  of  Congress,  in  speaking  of  the  seat  of 
government,  said  :  "  After  a  great  deal  of  writing  and 


34  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

talking  and  controversy  about  the  permanent  seat  of 
Congress  under  the  present  Constitution,  it  was  de- 
termined that  Philadelphia  should  "be  honored  with 
its  presence  for  ten  years,  and  afterward  the  perma- 
nent location  should  be  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
where  it  now  is.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Federal  city 
was  in  building,  and  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
I  1  a  sum  of  money  to  build  a  hous  :  :  the  Presi- 
dent, perhaps  with  some  hope  that  this  might  I 
to  keep  the  -  t  :  the  general  government  in  the 
Capital;  for  Philadelphia  was  then  consi  as  ihe 

Capital  of  the  State.  "What  was  lately  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  structure  erected  for 
the  purpose.  But  as  soon  as  General  Wash::  _  n 
saw  its  dimensions,  and  a  good  while  before  it  was 
finished,  he  let  it  be  known  that  he  would  not  occupy 
ttd  should  certainly  no:  _  :  the  expense  of  pur- 
thasing  suitable  furnitv-  such  a  dwelling  :  :'.:   it 

13  to  be  understood,  in  -."..  :  stern  republi 

d  body  though:  of  Congress  furnishing  the  Presi 
dent's  house ;  or  if  perchance  such  a  thought  did 
enter  into  some  aristc  aratic  hea  .  ::  was  too  unpopu- 
lar to  be  uttered.  President  Washington  the: 
rented  a  house  of  !Mr.  Robert  Morris,  in  Market 
street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth,  on  the  south  side. 
and  furnished  it  handsomely,  but  not  g  :_•-;  :usly." 

From  Xew  York,  by  w.  ases,  the  house- 

hold furniture  of  individuals  and  government  prop- 
erty was  moved.     General  Washington  superintended 
the  preparation  and  embarkation  of  all  his  personal 
leciding  the  time  and  manner  in  which  every 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  35 

article  was  taken  or  sold,  and  attending  to  all  with  a 
scrupulous  zeal  which  is  surprising  when  we  considei 
his  public  position.  His  letters  to  Mr.  Lear  are  as 
characteristic  of  his  private  life  as  was  his  career  as 
founder  of  the  Republic.  On  Saturday  afternoon, 
November  the  28th,  the  President  and  his  wife  re- 
turned from  Mount  Vernon,  and  took  up  their  resi- 
dence in  the  house  of  Mr.  Morris,  which  the  corpo- 
ration had  obtained  for  them.  They  found  Congress- 
men and  public  characters  already  assembled,  in 
anticipation  of  a  gay  and  brilliant  season.  Mrs. 
Washington  held  her  drawing-rooms  on  Friday  even- 
ing of  each  week ;  company  assembled  early  and 
retired  before  half-past  ten.  It  is  related  on  one 
occasion,  at  a  levee  held  in  New  York  the  first  year 
of  the  administration,  that  she  remarked,  as  the  hands 
on  the  clock  approached  ten,  "  that  her  husband  re- 
tired punctually  at  ten,  and  she  followed  very  soon 
afterward."  A  degree  of  stiffness  and  formality  ex- 
isted at  those  receptions  that  we .  of  this  day  can 
scarcely  understand,  accustomed  as  wTe  are  to  the 
familiarity  and  freedom  of  the  present-day  gather- 
ings ;  but  the  imposing  dignity  of  the  Executive 
himself  rebuked  all  attempts  at  equality,  and  the 
novelty  of  the  position  itself  caused  a  general  awk- 
wardness. Unlike  later-day  levees,  the  lady  of  the 
mansion  always  sat,  and  the  guests  were  arranged  in 
a  circle  round  which  the  President  passed,  speaking 
kindly  to  each  one.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no 
descriptions  exist  of  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington at  these  fete  evenings.     Little  or  no  attention, 


36  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

outside  of  social  life,  was  paid  to  such  items  as  how 
ladies  dressed  and  what  they  appeared  in,  and  letter- 
writing  was  not  so  universal  as  we  of  modern  time3 
have  made  it ;  hence  there  remains  no  source  from 
whence  to  gather  these  little  trifles  which  form  part 
of  every  newspaper  edition  of  the  present  day.  The 
President  always  had  his  hair  powdered,  and  never 
offered  his  hand  to  any  one  at  his  public  receptions. 

"On  the  national  fete  days,  the  commencement 
of  the  levee  was  announced  by  the  firing  of  a  salute 
from  a  pair  of  twelve-pounders  stationed  not  far  dis- 
tant from  the  Presidential  mansion  ;  and  the  ex-Com- 
mander-in-chief paid  his  former  companions  in  arms 
the  compliments  to  wear  the  old  continental  uniform." 
The  grandchildren  of  Mrs.  Washington  were  her  only 
companions  during  the  President's  long  absences  in 
his  office ;  and  Mrs.  Robert  Morris  was  the  most  social 
visitor  at  the  mansion.  Several  times  mention  is  made 
of  her  presence  at  the  side  of  Mrs.  Washington  dur- 
ing the  presentations  at  the  receptions.  "  And  at  all 
the  dinners  by  the  republican  Chief  Magistrate,  the 
venerable  Robert  Morris  took  precedence  of  every 
other  guest,  invariably  conducting  Mrs.  Washington, 
and  sitting  at  her  right  hand."  At  this,  the  meridian 
period  of  her  life,  Mrs.  Washington's  personal  appear- 
ance was,  although  somewhat  portly  in  person,  fresh 
and  of  an  agreeable  countenance.  She  had  been  a 
handsome  woman  thirty  years  before,  when,  on  the 
6th  of  January,  1T59,  she  was  married  to  Colonel 
Washington ;  and  in  an  admirable  picture  of  her  by 
Woolaston,  painted  about  the  same  time,  we  see  some- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  37 

thing  of  that  pleasing  grace  which  is  said  to  have 
been  her  distinction.  During  these  years  of  her  mar- 
ried life,  she  had  enjoyed  ample  opportunity  to  culti- 
vate that  elegance  of  manner  for  which  she  was  con- 
spicuous, and  to  develop  those  conversational  powers 
which  rendered  her  so  attractive.  Washington,  ever 
quiet  and  taciturn,  depended  on  her ;  and  her  tact  and 
"  gentler  womanly  politeness  "  relieved  him  from  the 
irksome  duties  of  hospitality  when  business  called 
him  elsewhere.  His  first  levee,  the  Marchioness 
D'Yuro  wrote  to  a  friend  in  New  York,  "was  .brilliant 
beyond  any  thing  that  could  be  imagined."  She 
adds :  "  You  never  could  have  had  such  a  drawing- 
room  ;  and  though  there  was  a  great  deal  of  extrava- 
gance, there  was  so  much  of  Philadelphia  tact  in  every 
thihsr.  that  it  must  have  been  confessed  the  most  de- 
lio-htful  occasion  of  the  kind  ever  known  in  this  coun- 
t.y." 

Mrs.  Washington  at  this  time  was  fifty-eight  years 
old ;  but  her  healthful,  rational  habits,  and  the  cease- 
less influence  of  the  principles  by  which  her  life  was 
habitually  regulated,  enabled  her  still  to  exhibit  un- 
diminished her  characteristic  activity,  usefulness,  and 
cheerfulness.  From  the  "  Eecollections  "  of  a  daugh- 
ter of  Mrs.  Binney,  who  resided  opposite  the  Presi- 
dent's house,  we  have  some  interesting  accounts.  She 
says :  "  It  was  the  General's  custom  frequently,  when 
the  day  was  fine,  to  come  out  to  walk  attended  by  his 
secretaries,  Mr.  Lear  and  Major  Jackson.  He  always 
crossed  directly  over  from  his  own  door  to  the  sunny 
side  of  the  street,  and  walked  down."      She  never 


38  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

observed  them  conversing,  and  often  wondered  and 
watched  as  a  child  to  see  if  any  of  the  party  spoke, 
but  never  perceived  that  any  thing  was  said.  He 
was  always  dressed  in  black,  and  all  three  wore  cocked 
hats.  M  It  was  Mrs.  Washington's  custom  io  return 
visits  on  the  third  day.  and  in  calling  on  her  mot!  i 
she  would  send  a  footman  over,  who  would  knock 
loudly  and  announce  Mrs.  Washington,  who  would 
then  come  over  with  Mr.  Lear."  i;  Her  manners  were 
very  easy,  pleasant,  and  unceremonious,  with  the  en 
acteristics  of  other  Virginia  ladies."  An  English 
manufacturer  breakfasted  with  the  President's  family 
on  the  Sth  of  June,  1794.     "I  confess."  he  .   "I 

was  struck  with  awe  and  veneration  when  I  recoil-:  t- 
ed  that  I  was  now  in  the  presence  of  the  great  Wa 
ington,  *  the  noble  and  wise  benefactor  of  the  world,' 
as  Mirabeau  styles  him.  The  President  seemed  very 
thoughtful,  and  was  slow  in  delivering  himself,  which 
induced  some  to  believe  him  reserved.  But  :t  " 
rather,  I  apprehend,  the  result  of  much  reflection ;  for 
he  had,  to  me,  an  appearance  of  affability  and  accom- 
modation. He  was  at  this  time  in  his  sixty-third 
year,  but  had  very  little  the  appearance  of  bay- 

ing been  all  his  life  so  exceedingly  temperate.  Mrs.. 
Washington  herself  made  tea  and  coffee  for  us.  On 
the  table  were  two  small  plates  of  sliced  tongue,  and 
diy  toast,  bread  and  butter,  but  no  broiled  fish,  as  is 
the  general  custom  here.  She  struck  me  as  being 
something  older  than  the  President,  though  I  under- 
stand they  were  both  "born  the  same  year.  She  was 
extremely  simple  in  her  dress,  and  wore  a  very  plain 
*  cap,  with  her  gray  hair  turned  up  under  it/' 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  39 

Eight  years  of  prosperity  and  progression  blessed 
the  administration  of  Washington,  and  now  the  hour 
of  departure  was  drawing  near.      With  feelings  of 
pleasure,  Mrs.  Washington  prepared  for  the  long-de- 
sired return  to  her  home  on  the  Potomac ;  and  when 
the  dauntless  robins  began  to  sing  and  hardy  daisies 
to  bloom,  the  family  set  out,  accompanied  by  the  son 
of  General  Lafayette.    Once  again  the  wife  and  grand- 
mother assumed  the  duties  congenial  to  her  nature, 
and  it  was  reasonable  to  hope  that  she  might  pass 
many  years  of  tranquil,  unalloyed  happiness  under 
her  own  vine  and  fig-tree.     The  old  life  was  resumed, 
and  the  lono;-silent  house  echoed  the  voices  of  the 
young  and  happy.     It  was  during  this  season  of  rest 
and  quiet  that  Washington  devoted  much  of  his  time 
to  the  planning  and  laying  out  of  the  city  which  bears 
his  name.     An  account  is  given  of  his  coming,  on  one 
occasion,  to  it,  and  when  he  reached  the  wharf  the 
cannon  pealed  forth  a  welcome.     Passing  along  the 
Georgetown  road,  he  halted  in  front  of  the  place  desig- 
nated as  the  "  White  House,"  so  called  in  honor  of 
the  former  home  of  his  wTife,  and  intended  as  a  resi- 
dence for  the  President ;  workmen  were  then  laying 
the    foundation    of  the   building   afterward  burned. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  chosen 
seat  of  the  government,  and  an  amusing  anecdote  is 
related  of  his  conference  with  David  Burns,  whose 
residence  was  on  the  ground  south  of  the  Presidential 
mansion,  and  was  until  recently  standing.     Washing- 
ton alludes  to  him  in  one  of  his  letters  as  the  "  obsti- 
nate Mr.  Burns;"  and  it  is  related  that,  when  the 


40  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

President  was  dwelling  upon  the  advantage  he  would 
derive  from  the  sale,  the  old  man  replied,  "  I  suppose 
you  think  people  here  are  going  to  take  every  grist 
that  comes  from  you  as  pure  grain ;  but  what  wTould 
you  have  been'  if  you  hadn't  married  the  widow  Cus- 
tis  ?  "  x 

Mount  Vernon  was  constantly  thronged  with  visit 
ors ;  and  to  the  "  Correspondence  of  Washington," 
which,  during  these  last  two  years  of  his  life,  are  very 
voluminous,  we  are  indebted  for  many  items  of  public 
and  private  interest.  But  a  blow  was  in  store  for  the 
contented  wife,  which  none  suspected.  A  cold,  taken 
after  a  long  ride  about  the  farm,  produced  fever  and 
swelling  of  the  throat,  which,  on  the  14th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1799,  resulted  in  the  death  of  the  deeply-loved 
husband.  A  wail  of  anguish  went  up  from  the  na- 
tion as  the  direful  newrs  flew  by  each  hut  and  hamlet ; 
but  in  that  hallowed  room,  forever  consecrated,  the 
brave  woman  who  has  lost  her  all,  sits  calmly  serene. 
She  suspects  that  he-  is  gone,  for  the  doctor  and  Mr. 
Lear  are  gazing  at  each  other  in  mute  anguish ;  and 
rising  from  her  ]ow  seat  at  the  foot  of  his  bed,  she 
sees  the  limbs  are  composed  and  the  breath  gone. 
O  agony !  what  is  there  so  fearful  to  a  clinging 
woman's  heart  as  the  strong,  loving  arm  that  enfolded 
her,  cold  and  stiff  forever.  The  cover  is  straightened 
as  he  fixed  it,  and  his  face  is  composed  after  the  vio- 
lent struggle  ;  but  what  is  this  appearance  of  triumph 
to  the  desolate  widov/ed  being,  who  gasps  for  breath 
like  one  drowning,  as  she  totters  to  his  side  ?  But 
the  sweet  features  calm  her ;  perhaps  she  is  thinking 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  •       41 

of  how  he  would  have  her  do  if  his  spirit  could  only 
speak.  Whatever  of  inward  peace  receiving,  there  is 
a  determined  effort  at  control  perceptible,  and  she  is 
saying,  "  'Tis  well ;  all  is  now  over.  I  shall  soon  fol- 
low him.  I  have  no  more  trials  to  pass  through.'1 
One  long  look,  as  if  her  hungry  soul  wTas  obtaining 
food  to  feed  on  through,  all  eternity,  and  she  is  assist- 
ed from  the  room.  How  full  of  holy  memories  must 
that  chamber  of  death  have  been  to  her  as  she  sum- 
moned courage  to  turn  and  drink  in  the  last  look. 
The  great  fireside,  with  the  smouldering  embers  dying 
into  ashes  gray — the  quaint  old  mantle,  all  covered 
with  vials  and  appendages  of  a  sick-apartment — their 
easy-chairs  side  by  side,  one  deserted  forever,  and 
cruel  sight  to  the  pitiful  sufferer — their  bed,  upon 
which  lay  her  friend  and  companion  for  the  last  time. 
It  was  wrong  to  let  her  stand  there  and  suffer  so,  but 
her  awe-stricken  appearance  paralyzed  the  stoutest 
heart,  and  they  only  waited.  A  pale,  haggard  look 
succeeds  the  fierce  intensity  of  her  gaze,  and  she  wraps 
her  shawl  about  her,  and  turns  forever  froni  all  she  in 
that  hour  lost.  Another  room  receives  her ;  another 
fire  is  built  for  her ;  and  in  the  endless  watches  of 
that  black  night  she  masters  the  longings  of  her  heart, 
and  never  more  crossed  the  threshold  of  that  chamber 
of  her  loved  and  lost.  A  sickening  feeling  of  utter 
loneliness  and  desolation  ushered  in  the  early  morn  of 
the  first  day  of  her  widowhood,  but  her  resolve  was 
made ;  and  when  her  loved  ones  saw  it  pained  her, 
they  urged  her  no  more  that  she  should  go  back  to 
the  Caaba  of  her  heart. 


42  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

••  Congress  resolved,  that  a  marble  monument  be 
erected  by  the  United  States,  in  the  Capitol  at  the  city 
of  Washington,  and  that  the  family  of-  George  Wash- 
ington be  requested  to  permit  his  body  to  be  deposited 
under  it,  and  that  the  monument  be  so  designed  as  to 
commemorate  the  great  events  of  his  military  and 
•  : "::;cal  life.     And  it  further  resolved, 

*•  That  there  be  a  funeral  procession  from  Congress 
Hall  to  the  German  Lutheran  Church  in  honor  of  the 
memory  of  General  George  Washington,  on  Thursday 
the  26th  inst.,  and  that  an  oration  be  prepared  at  the 
request  of  Congress,  to  be  delivered  before  both 
Houses  on  that  day,  and  that  the  President  of  the 
Senate  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
be  desired  to  request  one  of  the  members  of  Congress 
to  prepare  and  deliver  the  same.  And  it  further  re- 
solved, 

••  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  re- 

:ed  to  direct  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  to  be 
transmitted  to  Mrs.  Washington,  assuring  her  of  the 
profound  respect  Congress  will  ever  bear  to  her  person 
and  character  ;  of  their  condolence  on  the  late  afflict- 
ing Dispensation  of  Providence,  and  entreating  her 
assent  to  the  interment  of  the  Remains  of  General 
George  Washington  in  the  manner  expressed  in  the 
first  resolution. 

And  it  further  Resolved  :  B  That  the  President  of 
the  United  States  be  requested  to  issue  a  Proclamation 

ying  the  People  throughout  the   United   States 

the  recommendation  contained  in  the  third  resolution.'1 

In    reply   to    the    above    resolutions  which   were 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  43 

transmitted  by  the  President  (John  Adams)  on  the 
23d  Dec,  1799,  Mrs.  Washington  says  : 

"Mount  Vernon,  Dec.  Slaf,  1799. 

"  Sir  :  While  I  feel  with  keenest  anguish  the  late 
dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  I  cannot  be  in- 
sensible to  the  mournful  tributes  of  respect  and 
veneration  which  are  paid  to  the  memory  of  my  dear, 
deceased  husband,  and  as  his  best  services  and  most 
anxious  wishes  were  always  devoted  to  the  welfare 
and  happiness  of  his  country,  to  know  that  they  were 
truly  appreciated  and  gratefully  remembered,  affords 
no  inconsiderable  consolation. 

"  Taught  by  that  great  example  which  I  have  so 
long  had  before  me,  never  to  oppose  my  private  wishes 
to  the  public  will,  I  must  consent  to  the  request  made 
by  Congress  which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to 
transmit  to  me,  and  in  doing  this  I  need  not,  I  cannot 
say,  what  a  sacrifice  of  individual  feeling  I  make  to  a 
sense  of  public  duty. 

"With  grateful  acknowledgments  and  unfeigned 
thanks  for  the  personal  respects  and  evidences  of  con- 
dolence expressed  by  Congress  and  yourself, 
"  I  remain,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"MaETHA   WASHINGTON." 

But  this  pain  might  have  been  spared  her,  for  the 
monument  was  never  erected,  and  the  remains  are 
still  at  Mount  Vernon  their  most  fitting  resting-place. 

The  twofold  duties  of  life  pressed  constantly  upon 


44  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE. 

her,  nor  did  she  shirk  any  claim.  Yet  the  compressed 
lip,  and  the  ofttimes  quivering  eyelid  betrayed  the 
restless  nioanin^s  of  her  aching  heart. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  she  resembled  Wash- 
ington in  manners  and  person ;  she  was  like  him  as 
every  weaker  nature  is  like  a  stronger  one  living  in 
close  relationship.  She  received  from  his  stronger 
will  his  influences,  and  he  impressed  her  with  his 
views  so  thoroughly  that  she  couli  not  distinguish  her 
own.  Relying  on  his  guidance  in  every  thing,  she 
studied  his  features  until  her  softer  lineaments  imper- 
ceptibly grew  like  his,  and  the  tones  of  her  voice 
sounded  wonderfully  similar.  Imbibing  the  senti- 
ments and  teachings  of  such  a  nature,  her  own  life  was 
ennobled  and  his  rendered  happy. 

In  the  en  era  vine  we  have  before  us,  taken  while 
in  the  Executive  Mansion,  we  trace  the  gradual  devel- 
opment of  her  life.  All  the  way  through  it  has 
counted  more  of  bliss  than  of  sorrow,  and  the  calm 
contentment  of  the  face  in  repose  speaks  of  a  heart 
full  of  peace  and  pleasantness.  It  is  not  the  coun- 
tenance of  a  gay  or  sunny-hearted  woman,  nay,  rather 
the  well-reflected  satisfaction  of  an  inward  faith  in  her 
religion  and  confidence  and  dependence  in  the  hus- 
band in  whom  she  had  so  long  trusted.  How  full  of 
sympathy  and  kindness  of  heart  is  that  serene  face,  and 
how  instinctively  we  would  trust  it !  Sustained  as 
she  was  by  her  deep  devotional  piety,  and  shielded  by 
the  protecting  arm  of  her  husband,  she  grew  in  spirit- 
ual development  and  fondly  believed  herself  strong 
and  self-reliant.     But  when  she  was  tested,  when  the 


LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  45 

earthly  support  was  removed,  the  inward  strength 
was  insufficient,  and  she  pined  under  the  loss  until  she 
died. 

"  Few  women  have  ever  figured  in  the  great  drama 
of  life  amid  scenes  so  varied  and  imposing,  with  so 
few  faults  and  'so  many  virtues  as  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.     Identified  with  the  'Father  of  his   Country' 
in  the  great  events  which  led  to  the  establishment  of 
a  nation's  independence,  Mrs.  Washington  necessarily 
partook  much  of  his  thoughts,  his   councils,  and  his 
views.    Often  at  his  side  in  those  awful  times  that  tried 
his   soul,   her  cheerfulness  soothed  his  anxieties,  her 
firmness  inspired  confidence,  while  her  devotional  piety 
toward  the  Supreme  Being  enabled  her  to  discern  a 
ray  of  hope  amid  the  darkness  of  a  horizon  clouded 
by  despair."     She  had  lived  through  the  "  five  grand 
acts  of  the  drama  of  American  Independence,'1  had 
witnessed  its  prelude  and  its  closing  tableaux,    and 
stood  waiting  to  hear  the  swell  of  the  pean  she  was  apt  to 
sin^  in  heaven.    Her  life  was  passed  in  seasons  of  dark- 
ness, as  of  glorious,  refulgent  happiness,  and  was  con- 
temporaneous with  some  of  the  greatest  minds  that 
will  ever  shine  out  from  any  century.     Her  sphere  was 
limited    entirely  to  social  occupations,  and  possessing 
wealth  and  position  she  gratified  her  taste.     Had  her 
character  been  a  decided  one,  it  would  have  stamped 
the  a^e  in  which  she  flourished,  for,  as  tliere  never  was 
but  one  Washington,  so  there  will  never  come  a  time 
when  there  will  be  the  same   opportunities  as  Mrs. 
Washington  had  for  winning  a  name  and  an  individu- 
ality.    But  she  did  not  aspire  to  any  nobler  ambition 


46  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

than  merely  to  perform  the  duties  of  her  home,  and 
she  lives  in  the  memories  of  her  descendants,  and  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  the 
wife  of  the  illustrious  Father  of  his  Country,  and  the 
first  in  position  of  the  women  of  the  Revolution. 

The  death  of  her  husband  was  the  last  event  of 
Mrs.  Washington's  life.  It  shattered  her  nerves  and 
broke  her  heart.  She  never  recovered  from  it.  The 
shaft  of  agony  which  had  buried  itself  in  her  soul  was 
never  removed.  "  Fate  had  now  dealt  the  last  deadly 
blow  to  the  earthly  happiness  of  Mrs.  "Washington ! 
Her  children,  their  father,  the  faithful,  affectionate, 
sympathizing  friend  and  counsellor  with  whom  through 
unnumbered  years  she  had  stood  side  by  side  in  many 
and  grievous  trials,  dangers,  and  sorrows — all  were 
gone  ! "  It  was  useless  to  strive  to  be  courageous,  a 
glance  at  the  low,  narrow  vault  under  the  side  of  the 
hill  unnerved  her.  She  stood,  the  desolate  survivor, 
like  a  lone  sentinel  upon  a  deserted  battle-field,  regard- 
ing in  mute  despair  the  fatal  destruction  of  hope,  and 
love,  and  joy.  Through  all  time  that  Saturday  night 
would  be  the  closing  scene  of  her  life,  even  though  her 
existence  should  be  lengthened  to  a  span  of  years. 

41  The  memory  of  his  faintest  tone, 
In  the  deep  midnight  came  upon  her  soul, 
And  cheered  the  passing  hours  so  sad,  so  lone, 

As  on  they  rolled." 

Without  religious  faith  she  would  have  been  haughty, 
reserved,  and  indolent,  and  with  a  less  noble  husband 
could  never  have  been  as  even-tempered  and  concilia 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  47 

tory  as  she  was.     But  all  of  life  was  love  to  her;  and 
all  of  our  memory  of  her  is  beautiful  harmony. 

Thirty  months  numbered  themselves  among  eter- 
nity's uncounted  years,  and  it  became  apparent  to  all 
that  another  death-scene  was  to  be  enacted,  and  the 
lonely  occupant  of  the  room  above  that  other  chamber 
of  dissolution,  was  reaching  the  goal  of  its  long  hoped- 
for  desire.  The  gentle  spirit  was  panting  to  free  it 
self,  and  the  glad  light  in  the  dim  eye  asserted  the 
pleasure  experienced  in  the  knowledge  of  the  coming 
change. 

For  many  months  Mrs.  Washington  had  been 
growing  more  gloomy  and  silent  than  ever  before,  and 
the  friends  who  gathered  about  her  called  her  actions 
strange  and  incomprehensible.  She  staid  much  alone, 
and  declined  every  offer  of  company,  but  toward  the 
last  the  truth  flashed  upon  her  that  she,  too,  was  going, 
and  her  heart  grew  young  again.  Blessing  all  about 
her,  she  sank  quietly  to  rest,  in  the  seventy-first  year 
of  her  age,  and  the  third  of  her  widowhood.  u  In 
the  spring  of  1801,  Martha  Washington  descended 
to  the  grave,  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  a  blessed 
immortality,  and  mourned  by  the  millions  of  a  niighty 
empire." 

Her  resting-place  beside  her  husband  is,  like  Mecca 
and  Jerusalem,  the  resort  of  the  travellers  of  all  na- 
tions, who,  wandering  in  its  hallowed  precincts,  imbibe 
anew  admiration  and  veneration  for  the  immortal  ge- 
nius, whose  name  is  traced  in  imperishable  remem* 
brance  in  the  hearts  of  his  grateful  countrymen.  Side 
by  side  their  bodies  lie  crumbling  away,  while  their 


4S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

spirits,  through  all  the  ramifications  of  an  eternal  fu- 
ture, wend  their  way  to  the  Author  and  Source  of 
their  being.  The  placid  Potomac  kisses  the  banks  of 
that  precious  domain,  while  the  ripples  of  the  reced- 
ing tide  utter  a  mourDful  sound  as  it  quits  the  side  of 
the  stream,  hallowed  forever. 

The  temptation  to  see  this  historic  and  romantic 
home  of  the  most  beloved  of  the  nation's  dead  was 
not  to  be  resisted,  and  in  company  with  one  of  the  few 
surviving  relatives  who  bears  that  honored  name,  we 
fcarted  to  the  steamer.  Although  the  weather  was 
cold  and  disagreeable,  with  a  threatening  aspect  of  a 
snow-storm,  we  found  the  little  vessel  fib  .  Lth  pil- 
grims, bound  to  the  tomb  of  Washington.  This  trip 
is  one  of  intense  interest,  and  particularly  since  the 
events  of  the  late  war  have  given  to  all  the  locality 
additional  attraction.  Arlington,  Alexandria,  and  1 
Washington  !  what  memories  are  stirred  by  mention 
of  these  names,  and  the  remembrance  is  acute  when  we 
stand  face  to  face  with  such  objects.  Alexandria,  with 
its  old  moss-covered  houses  and  ancient  gnarled  :: 
visibly  impresses  ith  its  claims  to  respect.     The 

old  comm  lear;  to  every  generous  American, 

whether  of  northen  .thern  1 .'. 

ciallyto  the  people  of  the  south  whose  ancestors  fond- 
ly termed  it  the  "  motherland,"  and  the  refrain  of 
e  sons;  w 

"  How  dear  to  this  heart  are  the  scenes  of  my  childhood, 
When  fond  recollection  presents  them  to  view  ! 
The  orchard,  the  meadow,  the  deep-tangled  wild-wood 
And  every  loved  spot  which  my  infancy  kr.ew! 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  49 

The  wide-spreading  pond,  and  the  mill  that  stood  by  it. 
The  bridge,  and  the  rock,  where  the  cataract  fell. 

The  cot  of  my  father,  the  dairy -house  nigh  it, 
And  e'en  the  rude  backet  that  hung  in  the  welL" 

Far  np  the  narrow  quiet  streets  I  looked,  and  discern- 
ed in  the  distance  a  veritable  oscillating  arm  of  a  well, 
and  fancy  quickly  added  the  "  old  oaken  bucket,  the 
iron  bound  bucket,  which  hung  in  the  well."  It  was 
the  venerable  look  of  the  place  which  appealed  strong* 
est  to  the  senses,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  long  past  a  cen- 
tury  old,  its  foundation  having  been  laid  in  1748.  As 
the  boat  anchored  at  the  wharf  to  put  off  passengers, 
I  gazed  wistfully  up  those  streets  through  which 
Washington  had  often  passed,  and  looked  in  vain  to 
see  some  "  vast  and  venerable  pile,  so  old  it  seemed 
only  not  to  fall,"1  but  the  residences  of  most  of  the  old 
inhabitants  are  the  abodes  of  wealth,  and  they  exhibit 
evidences  of  care  and  preservation. 

Alexandria  was  early  a  place  of  some  note,  for  five 
colonial  governors  met  here  by  appointment,  in  1755, 
to  take  measures  with  General  Braddock  respecting  his 
expedition  to  the  "West.  -  That  expedition  proceeded 
from  Alexandria,  and  tradition  still  points  to  the  site 
on  which  now  stands  the  olden  Episcopal  Church  (but 
then,  in  the  woods),  as  the  spot  where  he  pitched  his 
tent,  while  the  road  ■  over  the  western  hills  by  which 
his  army  withdrew,  long  bore  the  name  of  this  unfor- 
tunate commander.  But  the  reminiscences  which  the 
Alexandrians  most  cherish  are  those  which  associate 
their  town  with  the  domestic  attachments  and  habits 
of  Washington,  and  the  stranger  is  still  pointed  to  the 
4 


50  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

church  of  which  he  was  vestryman ;  to  the  pew  in 
which  he  customarily  sate ;  and  many  striking  memo- 
rials of  his  varied  life  are  carefully  preserved." 

That  old  church  where  Washington  and  his  wife 
were  wont  to  worship,  how  tenderly  we  look  upon  it, 
and  with  what  hallowed  feelings !  All  the  common- 
place thoughts  that  fill  our  minds  every  day  are  laid 
aside,  while  we  contemplate  the  character  of  the  man 
who  has  stamped  his  image  in  the  hearts  of  freemen 
throughout  the  world.  There  is  another  church  at 
which  one  feels  these  ennobling  heart-throbs,  and 
which  I  confess  moved  me  as  sensibly,  and  that  is  the 
little  Dutch  church  in  "Sleepy  Hollow,"  once  the 
shrine  at  which  Washington  Irving  offered  the  adora- 
tion of  his  guileless  heart.  His  beautifully  expressed 
admiration  of  Washington  possibly  occasioned  the  con- 
stant comparison,  and  to  me  these  two  temples  are  as 
inseparable  as  the  memories  of  these  great  men  are 
linked. 

The  weather,  which  had  been  indicative  all  day  of 
a  storm,  cleared  off  as  we  approached  Mount  Vernon, 
and  as  we  were  leaving  the  boat,  it  shone  brightly 
upon  us.  Winding  round  the  hill,  following  a  narrow 
pathway,  we  reached  the  tomb  before  the  persons  who 
had  taken  the  carriage-way  came  in  view,  but  prefer- 
ring to  examine  it  last,  that  we  might  be  more  careful, 
we  continued  the  meandering  path  to  the  front  of  the 
bouse.  It  had  been  the  home,  in  early  youth,  of  the 
person  who  accompanied  us,  and,  listening  to  her  ex- 
planations and  descriptions,  we  felt  an  interest  which 
we  could  not  otherwise  summon.     The  house  is  bare 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  51 

of  any  furniture  whatever,  save  a  small  quantity  owned 
by  the  persons  who  live  there,  and  on  a  winter's  day 
looked  cheerless  and  uninviting.  "  The  central  part 
of  Mount  Vernon  house  was  built  by  Lawrence  "Wash- 
ington, brother  to  the  General ;  the  wings  were  ad- 
ded by  the  General,  and  the  whole  named  after  Admi- 
ral Vernon,  under  whom  Lawrence  Washington  had 
served."  The  dininor-room  on  the  risrlit  contains  the 
Italian  marble  mantle-piece  sent  from  Italy  to  General 
Washington.  I  feel  ashamed  to  add,  it  is  cased  in 
wire-work  to  prevent  its  being  demolished  by  in- 
judicious, not  to  say  criminal  visitors.  The  rooms  are 
not  large,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  mentioned 
above,  which  is  spacious ;  the  quaint,  old  wainscoting 
and  wrought  cornices  are  curious,  and  in  harmonv  with 
the  adornments  of  the  mansion.  "The  whole  house 
presents  a  curious  spectacle.  Every  thing  reminds  one 
of  formei'  days;  and  in  treading  the  halls  of  Mount  Ver- 
non, the  mind  reverts  incessantly  to  that  majestic  form, 
whose  shadow,  cast  upon  those  very  walls,  seems  to  the 
mind's  eye  ready  to  start  before  us  into  life."  The 
piazza  reaches  from  the  ground  to  the  eaves  of  the 
roof,  and  is  guarded  on  the  top  by  a  bright  and  taste- 
ful balustrade  ;  the  pillars  are  large  and  present  a  sim- 
ple and  grand  idea  to  the  mind.  Beneath  this  por,ch 
the  "Father  of  his  Country "  was  accustomed  to  walk, 
and  the  ancient  stones,  to  hearts  of  enthusiasm,  are 
full  of  deep  and  meditative  interest. 

The  room  in  which  he  died  is  small  and  now  be- 
reft of  every  thing  save  the  mantle-piece ;  just  above 
is   the  apartment  in   which  she  breathed  her  dying 


52  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

blessing.  A  narrow  stair-case  leads  from  the  door  of 
his  room,  which  was  never  entered  "by  her  after  his 
death.  The  green-house,  once  the  pride  of  Mra 
Washington,  has  since  been  burned,  and  there  remains 
but  a  very  small  one,  put  together  carelessly  to  pro- 
tect the  few  rare  plants  remaining.  In  front  of  the 
house  (I  speak  of  the  fronts  facing  the  orchards,  and  not 
the  river,  each  of  which  are  alike  very  beautiful),  is  a 
spacious  lawn  surrounded  by  serpentine  walks.  On 
either  side,  brick  walls,  all  covered  with  ivy  and  ancient 
moss,  enclose  gardens.  The  one  on  the  right  of  the 
house  was  once  tilled  with  cosi.lv  ornamental  plants 
from  the  tropical  climes,  and  in  which  was  the  green- 
house ;  but  the  box  trees  have  grown  high  and  irregu- 
lar, and  the  creepers  are  running  wild  over  what  hardy 
rose  bushes  still  survive  to  tell  of  a  past  existence  of 
care  and  beauty.  In  the  life-time  of  Mrs.  "Washington, 
her  home  must  have  been  very  beautiful,  "ere  yet 
time's  effacing  fingers  had  traced  the  lines  where  beauty 
lingered."  It  is  even  now  a  splendid  old  place,  but 
rapidly  losing  the  interest  it  once  had.  The  estate  has 
passed  out  of  the  family,  and  the  furniture  has  been 
removed  by  descendants,  to  whom  it  was  given :  much 
that  lent  a  charm  to  the  place  is  gone,  and  the  only  in- 
teresting object,  save  the  interior  of  the  mansion  itself, 
is  the  key  of  the  Bastile,  presented  by  Lafayette,  and 
hanging  in  a  case  on  the  wall.  Portions  of  the  house 
are  closed,  and  the  stairway  in  the  front  hall  is  barri- 
caded to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  visitors.  The  room 
in  which  Mrs.  Washington  died,  just  above  the  one 
occupied  by  her  husband,  was  locked,  and  we  did  not 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  53 

view  the  room  in  which  she  suffered  so  silently,  and 
from  which  her  freed  spirit  sought  its  friend  and  mate. 

The  small  windows  and  low  ceilings,  together  with 
the  many  little  closets  and  dark  passage-ways,  strike 
one  strangely  who  is  accustomed  to  the  mansions  of 
modern  times  ;  but  these  old  homesteads  are  numerous 
throughout  the  "  Old  Dominion,"  and  are  the  most 
precious  of  worldly  possessions  to  the  descendants  of 
worthy  families.  There  must  be  more  than  twenty 
apartments,  most  of  them  small  and  plain  in  finish. 
The  narrow  doors  and  wide  fire-places  are  the  ensigns 
of  a  past  age  and  many  years  of  change,  but  are  elo- 
quent in  their  obsoleteness. 

The  library  which  ordinarily  is  the  most  interest- 
ing room  in  any  house,  should  be  doubly  so  in  this 
home  of  Washington's;  but,  bare  of  all  save  the  empty 
cases  in  the  wall,  it  is  the  gloomiest  of  all.  Books  all 
gone,  and  the  occupation  of  the  room  by  the  present 
residents  deprives  it  of  any  attractions  it  might  other- 
wise have.  Here,  early  in  the  morning  and  late  at 
night,  he  worked  continuously,  keeping  up  his  increas- 
ing correspondence  and  managing  his  vast  respon- 
sibilities. 

Murmurs  of  another  war  reached  him  as  he  sat  at 
his  table  planning  rural  improvements,  and  from  this 
room  he  wrote  accepting  the  position  no  other  could 
fill  while  he  lived. 

Here  death  found  him,  the  night  before  his  last 
illness,  when  cold  and  hoarse  he  came  in  from  his  long 
ride,  and  warmed  •  himself  by  his  library  fire.  That 
night  he  went  up  to  his  room  over  this  favorite  study, 


54  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  said  in  reply  to  a  member  of  his  family  as  he 
passed  out,  who  urged  him  to  do  something  for  it, 
"  No,  you  know  I  never  take  any  thing  for  a  cold. 
Let  it  go  as  it  came." 

The  winds  and  rains  of  sixty-eight  years  have 
beaten  upon  that  sacred  home  on  the  high  banks  of 
the  silvery  waters  beneath,  since  the  widowed,  weary 
wife  was  laid  to  rest  beside  her  noble  dead,  and  the 
snows  of  winter  and  storms  of  summer  have  left  its 
weather-worn  and  stained  front  looking  like  some 
ghost  of  other  days  left  alone  to  tell  of  its  former  life 
and  beauty.  In  its  lonely  grandeur  it  stands  appeal- 
ing to  us  for  that  reverence  born  of  sentiments,  stirred 
by  the  recollections  of  the  great  and  good. 

I  could  not  resist  the  feelings  of  gloomy  depression 
as  we  passed  out  the  front  toward  the  river,  and  took 
the  path  leading  to  the  tomb.  Far  down  the  side  of 
the  hill,  perched  on  a  knoll  and  surrounded  by  trees, 
I  saw  a  summer-house  and  .the  walk  leading  by  many 
angles  down  to  it.  The  view  of  the  river  is  said  to 
be  fine  from  this  point,  but  we  did  not  undertake  the 
difficulties  of  getting  down  to  it.  The  wooden  steps 
constructed  across  the  ravines  are  fast  sinking  to  ruin, 
and  the  swollen  stream  from  the  side  of  the  hill  dash- 
ing against  them,  was  distinctly  audible  to  us  as  we 
stood  far  above.  *The  swallows  and  bats  seemed  to 
have  built  their  nests  in  its  forsaken  interior,  and  we 
were  not  inclined  to  molest  them. 

I  looked  back  at  the  old  homestead  endeared  to 
every  American,  and  stamped  upon  memory  each 
portion  of  its  outlines. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  55 

High  above  me,  the  small  cnpalo  sported  its  little 
glittering  weather-vane  as  brilliant  as  though  it  had 
been  gilded  but  yesterday.  Here  again  was  an  object 
which  unconsciously  associated  Washington  with  his 
namesake,  Washington  Irving.  In  the  pleasant  sum- 
mer-time I  had  stood  in  front  of  the  little  "  Woolfort's 
Roost,"  and  enjoyed  to  the  finest  fibre  of  my  nature  its 
lovely  simplicity.  Above  it,  too,  a  little  weather-cock 
coquetted  with  the  wind  as  it  swept  down  from  Tap- 
pan  Zee,  the  same  said  to  have  been  carefully  removed 
from  the  Vander  Hayden  palace  at  Albany,  and  placed 
there  by  tender  hands  long  years  ago.  Upon  the  side 
of  the  hill  I  had  stopped  then  as  now,  and  looked 
back  at  the  house  above  me,  embosomed  in  vines  inter- 
spersed with  delicately  tinted  fuchsias. 

Even  as  I  was  standing  now  looking  for  the  first  and 
perhaps  the  last  time  upon  Mount  Vernon,  so  in  the 
beautiful  harvest  month  I  had  gazed  upon  the  Hudson 
spread  out  like  a  vast  panorama  with  its  graceful 
yachts  and  swift  schooners,  and  descended  the  winding 
path  to  the  water's  edge.  But  Mount  Vernon  was 
dressed  in  winters  dreariness,  and  its  desolate  silence 
oppressed  rather  than  elevated  the  feelings.  It  is  a 
fit  place  for  meditation  and  communion,  and  to  a 
spiritual  nature  the  influences  of  the  ancient  home  are 
elevating  and  full  of  harmony.  When  the  only  ap- 
proach was  by  conveyance  from  Alexandria,  the  visi- 
tors were  not  so  numerous  as  since  the  days  of  a  daily 
steamer  from  Washington  City,  and  much  of  the 
solemnity  usually  felt  for  so  renowned  a  spot  is  marred 
by  the  coarse  remark  and  thoughtless  acts  of  the 
many  who  saunter  through  the  grounds. 


56  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

A  gay  party  of  idlers  had  arranged  their  eatables 
upon  the  stone  steps  of  the  piazza,  and  sat  in  the  sun 
shine  lau^hins:  rnerrilv.  Even  those  old  rocks  srcoothlv 
worn,  where  so  often  had  stood  the  g] 
were  not  hallowed  nor  protected  from  the  selfish  con- 
venience of  unrefined  people.  Callous,  indeed,  must 
the  heart  which  could  walk  unmoved  through  bo 
endeared  a  scene.  To  tread  the  haunts  where  ,;  men 
have  thought  and  acted  . ..:."  is  ennobling  to  sensi- 
tive organizations,  and  to  linger  over  evidences  of 
olden  times  inspires  all  generous  minds  with  enthu- 
siasm. 

The  grounds   roll   downward   from   the   mansion 
house,  and  in  a  green  hollow  midway  between  that 
and  the  river,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  summer  house,  and  thirty  rods  from  the 
house  is  the  vault  where  reposed  the  remains  of  "V 
ington  and  Martha  his  wife.      Now  the  tomb  contains 
about  thirty  members  of  his  family,  and  is  sealed  up, 
and  in  front  of  the  main  vault,  enclosed  by  an  iron 
railing,  are  the  two  sarconhasd  containing:  the  ashes  of 
husband   and  wife.       "  A  melancholy  glory  kindles 
around  that  cold  pile  of  marble,"'  and  we  stood  mni 
thought. 

But  before  reaching  it  we  pass  the  old  vault  where 
for  a  few  years  he  was  buried.  The  few  cedars  on  it 
are  withered  and  the  door  stands  open,  presenting  a 
desolate  appearance.  With  vines  and  flowers,  and  leafy 
trees  filled  with  singing  birds,  this  sight  would  perhaps 
be  less  chilling ;  but  the  barren  aspects  of  nature 
united  with  the  solemn  stillness  of  the  country,  eon* 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.  57 

spired  to  freeze  every  thought  of  life  and  beauty,  and 
the  mind  dwelt  upon  the  rust  of  decay. 

Lafayette  stopped  at  Mount  Vernon  when  about  to 
return  to  France  after  his  visit  to  this  country,  in  1826, 
having  reserved  for  the  last  his  visit  to  Washington's 
Tomb,  and  the  scene  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Seward 
in  his  Life  of  John  Quincy  Adams  : 

"  When  the  boat  came  opposite  the  tomb  of  Wash- 
ington, at  Mount  Vernon,  it  paused  in  its  progress, 
Lafayette  arose.  The  wonders  which  he  had  per- 
formed for  a  man  of  his  age,  in  successfully  accom- 
plishing labors  enough  to  have  tested  his  meridian 
vigor,  whose  animation  rather  resembled  the  spring 
than  the  winter  of  life,  now  seemed  unequal  to  the 
tagk  he  was  about  to  perform—to  take  a  last  look  at 
'  The  Tomb  of  Washington  ! ' 

"  He  advanced  to  the  effort.  A  silence  the  most 
impressive  reigned  around,  till  the  strains  of  sweet 
and  plaintive  music  completed  the  grandeur  and  sacred 
solemnity  of  the  scene.  All  hearts  beat  in  unison 
with  the  throbbino-s  of  the  veteran's  bosom,  as  he 
looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  sepulchre  which  con- 
tained the  ashes  of  the  first  of  men  !  He  spoke  not, 
but  appeared  absorbed  in  the  mighty  recollections 
which  the  place  and  the  occasion  inspired.1' 

During  the  summer  of  1860,  Albert,  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  heir  apparent  to  the  Throne  of  England, 
visited,  in  company  with  President  Buchanan,  the 
tomb  of  Washington.  Here  amid  the  gorgeous  beau- 
ties of  a  southern  summer,  the  grandson  of  George  the 
Third  forgot  his  royalty  in  the  presence  of  departed 


58  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

worth  ;  and  bent  Lis  knee  in  awe  before  a  mere-  hand* 
ful  of  ashes,  wl  :  for  the   c  rble  encom- 

passing them,  would  be  blown  to  the  four  winds  of 
the  earth.     It  was  a  strange  sight  I  that  bright 

youthful  form  kneeling  before  the  tomb  of  the  '•  Fa- 
ther of  his   (    antry,""  and  attesting  his  appreciation 
of  the  great  spirit  which  more  than  any  other  wr : 
its  broad  domains  from  him.      But  a  stronger  link 
than  mere  p  L  the  feelings,  and  bound 

that  royal  scion  to  the  P  grave.      '"Love  of 

Liberty"  was  the  magic  wand  which  kindled  in  the 

ist  of  the  stranger  adoration  for  the  memory  of 
the  departed,  and  when  he  turned  to  leave  that  place 
of  sacredness,  eyes  rfot  used  to  wc  were 

moist  with  falling  te  s 

Stealthily  the  years  :  by,  and  we  wist  not  they 
are  passing,  yet  the  muffled  and  hoarse  voice  of  a  cen- 
tury astounds  us  with  its  parting.  The  centennial 
birthdays  have  been  celebrated;  seen  we  approach 
the  hundredth  ann:v_:  ary  of  victories  iron  and  inde- 
pendence achieved.  I:  the  [rita  of  the 
Chief  and  his  coi  -  ate  permitted  to  review  their 
earthly  pilgrimage,  let  it  be  a  source  of  'gratification 
to  us  to  kn  f  smile  upon  a  Republic  of  p 
Their  bodies  we  guard,  while  they  crumbled  away  in 
the  bosom  of  their  bn  th-ph  a  long  as  a  son  of 
America  remains  a  freeman,  it  will  be  a  well-spring 
of  inspiration  to  feel  that  "t  atains  the  P 
Patrice  and  the  woman  immortalized  by  his  1 

We  Lave  known  changes  as  a  nation,  and  there 
have  been  dreadful  contentions  in  this  beantH 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  59 

of  ours,  but  never  will  there  come  a  time  when  over 
that  tomb  at  Mount  Vernon  we  will  refuse  to  meet  as 
brothers,  and  renew  again  our  allegiance  above  the 
ashes  of  our  Father,  who  was  "  first  in  war,  first  in 
peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen." 


00  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


Has.  JOHN  ADAMS, 

Abigail  Smith,  the  daughter  of  a  Xew  England 

Congregationalist  minister,  was  1    rn  at  Weymouth,  in 

1744.     Her  father  was  the  settled  pastor  of  that  place 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  her  grandfather  was 
also  a  minister  of  the  same  denomination  in  a  l 
boring  town. 

The  younger  years  of  her  life  were  passed  in  the 
quiet  seclusion  of  her  grandfather's  house  ;  and  under 
the  instructions  of  her  grandmother,  she  imbibed  most 
of  the  lessons  which  were  the  most  deeply  impressed 
upon  her  mind.  "  I  have  not  forgotten,"  she  says  in 
a  letter  to  her  own  daughter,  in  the  year  1795.  ''the 
excellent  lessons  which  I  received  from  my  grand- 
mother at  a  very  early  period  of  life ;  I  frequently 
think  they  mr.de  a  more  durable  impression  upon  mv 
mind  than  those  which  I  received  from  my  own 
parents."  e  is  due  to  the  memory  of  those 

virtues,  the  sweet  remembrance  of  which  will  nourish. 
though  she  has  lon_  vith  her  ancestors. 

Sv  1   from  the  young  members  of  her   own 

family,  and  never  su  jected  to  the  ordinary  school 
routine,  her  imaginative  faculties  bid  fair  to  develop  at 
the  expense  of  her  judgment,  but  the  austere  religion 
of  her  ancestors,  and  the  daily  example  of  strict  com- 
pliance to  forms,  forbade  the  too  great  indulgence  of 
fancy.     "  She  bad  many  relations  both  on  the  father's 


A     Mnon 


J 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  61 

and  mother's  side,  and  with  these  she  was  upon  as 
intimate  terms  as  circumstances  would  allow.  The 
distances  between  the  homes  of  the  young  people  was, 
however,  too  great,  and  the  means  of  their  parents  too 
narrow,  to  admit  of  very  frequent  personal  intercourse, 
the  substitute  for  which  was  a  rapid  interchange  of  writ- 
ten communication."  "  The  women  of  the  last  century," 
observes  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams  in  his  memoir  of 
his  grandmother,  "  were  more  remarkable  for  their 
letter-writing  propensities,  than  the  novel-reading  and 
more  pretending  daughters  of  this  era :  their  field 
was  larger,  and  the  stirring  events  of  the  times  made 
it  an  object  of  more  interest.  Xow,  the  close  connec- 
tion between  all  parts  of  this  country,  and  rapid  means 
of  transmitting  intelligence  through  the  medium  of 
telegraphs  and  newspapers,  renders  the  slower  process 
of  writing  letters  unnecessary,  save  in  instances  of 
private  importance.  The  frugal  habits  of  the  sparsely 
settled  country  afforded  little  material  for  the  fashion- 
able chit-chat  which  forms  so  large  a  part  of  the  social 
life  of  to-day,  and  the  limited  education  of  woman 
was  another  draAYback  to  the  indulgence  of  a  pleasure 
in  which  they  really  excelled.  Upon  what,  then,  do 
we  base  the  assertion  that  they  were  remarkable  for 
their  habits  of  writing.  Even  though  self-taught,  the 
young  ladies  of  Massachusetts  were  certainly  readers, 
and  their  taste  was  not  for  the  feeble  and  nerveless 
sentiments,  but  was  derived  from  the  deepest  wells  of 
English  literature.  Almost  every  house  in  the  Colony 
possessed  some  old  heir-looms  in  the  shape  of  standard 
books,  even  if  the  number  was  limited  to  the  Bible 


62  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  dictionary.  Many,  especially  ministers,  could  dis- 
play relics  of  their  English  ancestors'  intelligence  in 
the  libraries  handed. down  to  them,  and  the  study  of 
their  contents  was  evident  in  many  of  the  grave  cor- 
respondences of  that  early  time.1'  To  learning,  in  the 
ordinary  sense  of  that  term,  she  could  make  no  claim. 
She  did  not  enjoy  an  opportunity  to  acquire  even  such 
as  there  mi^ht  have  been,  for  the  delicate  state  of  her 
health  forbade  the  idea  of  sending  her  away  from  home 
to  obtain  them.  In  speaking  of  her  deficiencies,  the  year 
before  her  death,  she  says  :  "  My  early  education  did 
not  partake  of  the  abundant  opportunity  which  the 
present  day  offers,  and  which  even  our  common  coun- 
try schools  now  afford.  I  never  was  sent  to  any  school, 
I  was  always  sick.11  Although  Massachusetts  ranked 
then,  as  it  does  now,  first  in  point  of  educational  facili- 
ties, it  is  certainly  remarkable  that  the  woman  received 
such  entire  neglect.  <;  It  is  not  impossible,11  adds  Mr. 
A.dams,  "  that  the  early  example  of  Mrs.  Hutchison, 
and  the  difficulties  in  which  the  public  exercise  of  her 
gifts  involved  the  Colony,  had  established  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  a  conviction  of  the  danger  that  may  attend 
the  meddling  of  women  with  abstruse  points  of  doc- 
trine ;  and  these,  however  they  might  confound  the 
strongest  intellects,  were  nevertheless  the  favorite 
topics  of  thought  and  discussion  in  that  generation.11 

While  the  sons  of  a  family  received  every  possible 
advantage  compatible  with  the  means  of  the  father, 
the  daughter's  interest,  as  far  as  mental  development 
was  concerned,  was  ignored.  To  aid  the  mother  in 
manual  household  labor,  and  by  self-denial  and  in- 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  -  63 

creased  industry  to  forward  the  welfare  of  the  brothers, 
was  the  most  exalted  height  to  which  any  woman  as- 
pired. To  woman  there  was  then  no  career  open,  no 
life-work' to  perform  outside  the  narrow  walls  of  home. 
Every  idea  of  self-culture  was  swallowed  up  in  the 
wearying  routine  of  practical  life,  and  what  of  knowl- 
edge they  obtained,  was  from  the  society  of  the 
learned,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  they  treasured 
and  considered  the  conversations  of  others. 

On  the  26th  of  October,  1764,  Abigail  Smith  was 
married  to  John  Adams.  She  was  at  the  time  twenty 
years  old.  The  match,  although  a  suitable  one  in 
many  respects,  was  not  considered  brilliant,  since  her 
ancestors  were  among  the  most  noted  of  the  best  class 
of  their  day,  and  he  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  of  limited 
means,  and  as  yet  a  lawyer  without  practice.  "  Mrs. 
Adams  was  the  second  of  three  daughters,  whose  char- 
acters  were  alike  stronsr  and  remarkable  for  their 
intellectual  force.  The  fortunes  of  two  of  them  con- 
fined its  influence  to  a  sphere  much  more  limited  than 
that  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mrs.  Adams.  Mary,  the 
eldest,  was  married  in  1762  to  Eichard  Cranch,  an 
English  emigrant,  who  subsequently  became  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Massachusetts. 
Elizabeth,  the  youngest,  was  twice  married ;  first  to  the 
Reverend  John  Shaw,  minister  of  Haverhill,  and  after 
his  death,  to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Peabody  of  iSTew  Hamp- 
shire.1' *  *  *  "  In  a  colony  founded  so  exclusively 
upon  motives  of  religious  zeal  as  Massachusetts  was,  it 
necessarily  followed  that  the  ordinary  distinctions  of 
society  were  in  a  great  degree  subverted,  and  that  the 


64  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ra  >f  the  church,  though  without  worldly  posses- 
sions to  boast  of,  were  the  most  in  honor  everywhere. 
If  a  festive  entertainment  was  meditated,  the  minister 
was  sure  to  be  first  on  the  list  of  those  invited.     If 
any  assembly  of  citizens  was  held,  he  must  be  there  to 
open  the  business  with  prayer.     If  a  political  measure 
'..'.  -was  among  the  first  whose  opinions 
to  be  consulted.     He  was  not  infrequently  the 
family  physician.     Hence  the  objection  to  Mr.  Adams 
by  her  friends  was  founded  on  the  fact  that  she  was 
laughter  and  grand-daughter  of  a  minister,  and 
:'.;.".  superior  according  to  the  opinions  of  zealous 
.   whose  prejudices  were  extreme  toward  a 
calling  they  deemed  hardly  hoi 

Ten  :   quiet   home  life  succeeded  her  mar- 

riage ring  which  time  little  trans]  ired  worthy  of 
record.  i;  She  appears  to  have  passed  an  apparently 
life,  having  her  residence  in  Braintree,  or 
in  Boston,  according  as  the  state  of  her  husband's 
health,  then  rather  impaired,  or  that  of  his  professional 
practice,  made  the  change  advisable.  Within  this 
period  she  became  the  mother  of  a  daughter  and  of 
thre 

"Mi    A    ams  was  fleeted  one  of  the  delegates  on  the 
part  of  Massachi  i  1  to  meet  persons  cho- 

:n  the  same  manner  from  the  other  Colonies,  for 
the  r  .:  ~:-  of  consulting  in  common  upon  the  course 
most  advisable  to  be  adopted  by  them.*'  In  the  month 
of  August,  1774,  he  left  home  in  company  with  Sam- 
uel Adams,  Thomas  Cushings,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine, 
i  >  Philadelphia,  at  which  place  the  proposed 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  65 

assembly  was  to  be  held."     In  two  months,  Mr.  Adams 
was  home  again.     Congress  met  again  in  May,  1775. 

and  Mr.  Adams  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  attend  it. 
The  long  distance  was  traversed  on  horseback,  and 
was  replete  with  hardships.  At  Hartford  he  heard  of 
the  memorable  incident  at  Lexington,  only  five  days 
after  his  departure  from  Braintree.  Up  to  this  time, 
the  trouble  between  the  two  countries  had  been  a  dis- 
pute, henceforth  it  resolved  itself  into  open  hostilities. 
"In  November,  1775,"'  says  Bancroft,  ''Abigail 
Smith,  the  wife  of  John  Adams,  was  at  her  home  near 
the  foot  of  Penn  Hill,  charged  with  the  sole  care  of  their 
little  brood  of  children  ;  managing  their  farm  ;  keeping 
house  with  frugality,  though  opening  her  doors  to  the 
houseless,  and  giving  with  good  will  a  part  of  her  scant 
portion  to  the  poor  ;  seeking  work  for  her  own  hands, 
and  ever  busily  occupied,  now  at  the  spinning  wheel,  now 
making  amends  for  having  never  been  sent  to  school 
by  learning  French,  though  with  the  aid  of  books 
alone.  Since  the  departure  of  her  husband  for  Con- 
gress, the  arrow  of  death  had  sped  near  her  by  day, 
and  the  pestilence  that  walks  in  darkness  had  entered 
her  humble  mansion.  She  herself  was  still  weak  after 
a  violent  illness  ;  her  house  was  a  hospital  in  every 
part ;  and  such  was  the  distress  of  the  neighborhood, 
she  could  hardly  find  a  well  person  to  assist  in  looking 
after  the  sick.  Her  youngest  son  had  been  rescued 
from  the  grave  by  her  nursing.  Her  own  mother  had 
been  taken  away,  and  after  the  austere  manner  of  her 
forefathers,  buried  without  prayer.  TVoe  followed 
woe,  and  one  affliction  trod  on  the  heels  of  another. 
5 


66  LADIES   OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Winter  was  hurrying  on ;  during  the  day  family  af- 
fairs took  off  her  attention,  but  her  long  evenings, 
broken  by  the  sound  of  the  storm  on  the  ocean,  or  the 
enemy's  artillery  at  Boston,  were  lonesome  and  melan- 
choly. Ever  in  the  silent  night  ruminating  on  the 
love  and  tenderness  of  her  departed  parent,  she  need- 
ed the  consolation  of  her  husband's  presence ;  but 
when  she  read  the  king's  proclamation,  she  willingly 
gave  up  her  nearest  friend  exclusively  to  his  perilous 
duties,  and  sent  him  her  cheering  message  :  ':  This  in- 
telligence will  make  a  plain  path  for  yon,  thougli  a 
dangerous  one.  I  could  not  join  to-day  in  the  petitions 
of  our  worty  pastor  for  a  reconciliation  between  our 
uo  longer  parent  state,  but  tyrant  state  and  these 
colonies.  Let  us  separate ;  they  are  unworthy  to  be 
our  brethren.  Let  us  renounce  them  ;  and  instead  of 
supplications,  as  formerly,  for  their  prosperity  and 
happiness,  let  us  beseech  the  Almighty  to  blast  their 
counsels  and  bring  to  naught  all  their  devices." 

Such,  words  of  patriotism  falling  from  the  lips  of  a 
woman  who  had  just  buried  three  members  of  her 
household,  one  her  own  mother,  and  who  was  alone 
with  her  four  little  children  within  sight  of  the  can- 
nonading at  Boston,  discovers  a  mind  strong,  and  a 
S]  iiit  fearless  and  brave  under  scenes  of  harrowing 
distress. 

Now  she  was  alone,  and  she -writes  to  her  husband, 

"  the  desolation  of  war  is  not  so  distressing:  as  the 

havoc  made  by  the  pestilence.     Some  poor  parents 

are  mourning  the  loss  of  three,  four,  and  five  children. 

?ome  families  are  wholly  stripped  of  every  mem- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  G7 

ber."  December  found  Mr.  Adams  once  more  at  home 
to  cheer  his  suffering  family,  but  Congress  demanded 
his  presence,  and  after  a  stay  of  one  month,  he  re* 
turned  again  to  the  halls  of  the  nation.  March  came, 
and  her  anxious  solitary  life  was  in  no  wise  brightened. 
The  distance,  in  those  days  of  slow  travel  and  bad 
roads,  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia  was  immense,  and 
letters  were  precious  articles  liard  to  receive.  In 
speaking  of  the  anticipated  attack  on  Boston,  she 
says :  "  It  has  been  said  to-morrow  and  to-morrow ; 
but  when  the  dreadful  to-morrow  will  be  I  know  not." 
Yet  even  as  she  wrote,  the  first  peal  of  the  American 
guns  rang  out  their  dissonance  on  the  chilling  night 
winds,  and  the  house  shook  and  trembled  from  cellar 
to  garret.  It  was  no  time  for  calm  thoughts  now,  and 
she  left  her  letter  unfinished  to  go  out  and  watch  the 
lurid  lights  that  flashed  and  disappeared  in  the  dis- 
tance. Next  morning  she  walked  to  Penn's  Hill, 
where  she  sat  listening  to  the  amazing  roar,  and  watch- 
ing  the  British  shells  as  they  fell  round  about  the 
camps  of  her  friends.  Her  home  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill  was  all  her  earthly  wealth,  and  the  careful  hus- 
banding of  each  years'  crop  her  only  income ;  yet  while 
she  ever  and  anon  cast  her  eye  upOn  it,  the  thoughts 
that  welled  into  words  were  not  of  selfish  repinings, 
but  of  proud  expressions  of  high-souled  patriotism. 
"The  cannonade  is  from  our  army,"  she  continues, 
"  and  the  sight  is  one  of  the  grandest  in  nature,  and 
is  of  the  true  species  of  the  sublime.  'Tis  now  an  in- 
cessant roar.  To-night  we  shall  realize  a  more  terrible 
scene  still ;  I  wish  myself  with  you  out  of  hearing,  as 


68  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

I  cannot  assist  them,  but  I  hope  to  give  you  joy  of 
Boston,  even  if  it  is  in  ruins  before  I  send  this  away." 
But  events  were  not  ordered  as  she  feared,  and  the 
result  was  more  glorious  than  she  dared  hope.  Al1 
the  summer  the  army  lay  encamped  around  Boston, 
and  in  early  Fall  her  husband  came  home  again,  after 
an  absence  of  nearly  a  year.  Yet  his  coming  brought 
her  no  joy,  since  it  was  to  announce  the  sad  truth  that 
he  had  been  chosen  to  go  to  France.  Could  he  take 
his  wife  and  little  ones,  was  the  oft-recurring  question. 
A  small  and  not  very  good  vessel  had  been  ordered  to 
take  him,  the  British  fleet  knew  this,  and  were  on  the 
watch  to  capture  it.  On  every  account  it  was  deemed 
best  he  should  go  alone,  but  concluded  to  take  his 
eldest  son,  John  Quincy  Adams,  to  bear  him  company, 
and  in  February,  1T7S,  sailed  for  Europe. 

The  loneliness  of  the  faithful  wife  can  hardly  be 
understood  by  those  unacquainted  with  the  horrors  of 
war.  Yet  I  ween  there  are  many,  very  many,  who 
in  the  dark  gloom  of  the  past  strife  can  record  similar 
feelings  of  agony,  and  can  trace  a  parallel  in  the  soli- 
tary musings  of  this  brave  matron.  The  ordinary 
occupations  of  the  female  sex  have  ever  confined  them 
to  a  very  limited  sphere,  and  there  is  seldom  an  <: 
sion  when  they  can  with  propriety  extend  their  exer- 
tions beyond  the  domestic  hearth.  "  Only  through 
the  imagination  can  she  give  unlimited  scope  to  those 
powers  which  the  world  until  recently  has  never 
understood,  and  which  are  even  now  but  dimly  de- 
nned." Had  mankind  given  her  the  privileges  of  a 
liberal  education,  and  freedom  to  carve  her  own  des- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  69 

tiny,  to  what  dazzling  heights  would  a  mind  so  natu- 
rally gifted  as  Mrs.  Adams  have  attained  ?  Circuni. 
scribed  a3  her  lot  was,  she  has  left  upon  the  pages  of 
history  an  enviable  record,  and  while  Americans  forget 
not  to  do  honor  to  her  husband's  zeal  and  greatness, 
her  memory  lends  a  richer  perfume,  and  sheds  a 
radiance  round  the  incidents  of  a  life  upon  which  she 
wielded  so  beneficial  an  influence. 

Ofttimes  weather-bound  and  compelled  to  remain  in- 
doors for  days,  with  no  society  save  her  children  and 
domestics,  it  is  not  strange  that  she  should  be  lonely. 
Nor  could  her  mind  dwell  upon  any  pleasing  anticipa- 
tions for  the  future.  Her  husband  three  thousand 
miles  away,  a  hostile  army  encompassing  the  country, 
poor  and  forlorn,  she  yet  so  managed  and  controlled 
her  little*estate,  that  it  served  to  support  her,  and  in 
old  age,  to  prove  the  happy  asylum  of  her  honored 
family.  Mr.  Adams  knew  her  exposed  condition,  yet 
trusted  to  her  judgment  to  protect  herself  and  little 
ones.  On  a  former  occasion  he  had  written  to  her 
a  in  case  of  dauger  to  fly  to  the  woods,"  and  now  he 
could  only  reiterate  the  same  advice,  at  the  same  time 
feeling  that  she  was  strong  and  resolute  to  sustain 
herself.  Six  months  passed,  and  Mrs.  Adams  writes  to 
him,  "  I  have  never  received  a  syllable  from  you  or  my 
dear  son,  and  it  is  five  months  since  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  conveying  a  line  to  you.  *  *  *  Yet  I 
know  not  but  you  are  less  a  sufferer  than  you  would  be 
to  hear  from  us,  to  know  our  distresses,  and  yet  be  un- 
able to  relieve  them.  The  universal  cry  for  bread  to  a  hu- 
mane heart  is  painful  beyond  description."   Mr.  Adams 


70  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

returned  to  Lis  family  after  an  absence  of  eighteen 
months,  but  no  sooner  was  he  established  in  his  happy 
home,  than  he  was  ordered  to  Great  Britain  to  nego- 
tiate a  peace.  Two  of  his  sons  accompanied  him  on  this 
trip.  He  went  over  night  to  Boston  to  embark  early 
next  day,  and  the  sad  heart  left  behind  again,  found  re- 
lief in  the  following  touching  words :  u  My  habitation, 
how  disconsolate  it  looks !  my  table,  I  sit  down  to  it,  but 
cannot  swallow  my  food  !  Oh,  why  was  I  born  with  so 
much  sensibility,  and  why  possessing  it  have  I  so  often 
been  called  to  struggle  with  it  ?  Were  I  sure  you 
would  not  be  gone,  I  could  not  withstand  the  tempta- 
tion of  coming  to  town  though  my  heart  would  suffer 
over  again  the  cruel  torture  of  separation."  Soon 
after  this  time,  she  wrote  to  her  eldest  son  in  regard 
to  his  extreme  reluctance  at  ao*ain  crossing  the  ocean, 
and  for  its  perspicuity  and  terseness,  for  the  loftiness 
of  its  sentiments,  and  the  sound  logical  advice  in 
which  it  abounds,  ranks  itself  amoD?  the  first  literary 
effusions  of  the  century  : 

"  Jnxx.  1778. 

u  My  Deae  Sox:.  Tis  almost  four  months  since 
you  left  your  native  land"  and  embarked  udon  the 
mighty  waters  in  quest  of  a  foreign  country.  Al- 
though I  have  not  particularly  written  to  you  since, 
yet  you  may  be  assured  you  have  constantly  been 
upon  my  heart  and  mind. 

"  It  is  a  very  difficult  task,  my  dear  son,  for  a  tender 
parent,  to  bring  her  mind  to  j>art  with  a  child  of  your 
years,  going  to  a  distant  land ;  nor  could  I  have  ao 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  71 

quiesced  in  sucli  a  separation  under  any  other  care 
than  that  of  the  most  excellent  parent  and  guardian 
who  accompanied  you.  You  have  arrived  at  year.:. 
capable  of  improving  under  the  advantages  you  will 
be  likely  to  have,  if  you  do  but  properly  attend  to 
them.  They  are  talents  put  into  your  hands,  of  which 
an  account  will  be  required  of  you  hereafter ;  and, 
being  possessed  of  one,  two,  or  four,  see  to  it  that  you 
double  your  number. 

"  The  most  amiable  and  most  useful  disposition  in 
a  young  mind  is  diffidence  of  itself;  and  this  should 
lead  you  to  seek  advice  and  instruction  from  him  who 
is  your  natural  guardian,  and  will  always  counsel  and 
direct  you  in  the  best  manner,  both  for  your  present 
and  future  happiness.  You  are  in  possession  of  a 
natural  good  understanding,  and  of  spirits  unbroken 
by  adversity  and  untamed  with  care.  Improve  your 
understanding  by  acquiring  useful  knowledge  and  vir- 
tue, such  as  will  render  you  an  ornament  to  society, 
an  honor  to  your  country,  and  a  blessing  to  your 
parents.  Great  learning  and  superior  abilities,  should 
you  ever  possess  them,  wTill  be  of  little  value  and 
small  estimation,  unless  virtue,  honor,  truth,  and  in- 
tegrity are  added  to  them.  Adhere  to  those  religious 
sentiments  and  principles  which  were  early  instilled 
into  your  mind,  and  remember  that  you  are  account- 
able to  your  Maker  for  all  your  words  and  actions. 
Let  me  enjoin  it  upon  you  to  attend  constantly  and 
steadfastly  to  the  precepts  and  instructions  of  your 
father,  as  you  value  the  happiness  of  your  mother  and 
your  own  welfare.     His  care  and  attention  to  you  ren- 


7~  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

der  many  things  unnecessary  for  ine  to  write,  wliicli  I 
might  otherwise  do ;  but  the  inadvertency  and  heed- 
lessness of  youth  require  line  upon  line  and  precept 
upon  precept,  and,  when  enforced  by  the  joint  efforts 
of  both  parents,  will,  I  hope,  have  a  due  innuence 
upon  your  conduct ;  for,  dear  as  you  are  to  nie,  I 
would  much  rather  you  should  have  found  your  grave 
in  the  ocean  you  have  crossed,  or  that  any  untimely 
h  crop  you  in  your  infant  years,  than  see  you  an 
immoral,  profligate,  or  graceless  child. 

"  You  have  entered  early  in  life  upon  the  great 
theatre  of  the  world,  which  is  full  of  temptations  and 
vice  of  eveiy  hind.  You  are  not  wholly  unacquaint- 
ed with  history,  in  which  you  have  read  of  crimes 
which  your  inexperienced  mind  could  scarcely  believe 
credible.  Yon  have  been  taught  to  think  of  them 
with  horror,  and  to  view  vice  as 

•  A  monster  of  bo  frightful  mien, 
That,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen.' 

Yet  you  must,  keep  a  strict  guard  upon  yourself,  or 
the  odious  monster  will  lose  its  terror  by  becoming 
familiar  to  you.  The  modern  history  of  our  own 
times  furnishes  as  black  a  list  of  crimes  as  can  be 
paralleled  in  ancient  times,  even  if  we  go  back  to 
.  :>,  Caligula,  Caesar  Borgia.  Young  as  you  are,  the 
cruel  war  into  which  we  have  been  compelled  by  the 
haughty  :  of  Britain  and  the  bloody  emissaries 

of  his  vengeance,  may  stamp  upon  your  mind  this  cer- 
tain jb  ;:;h,  that  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  all  coun- 
tries, communities,  and,  I  may  add,  individuals,  de- 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.  73 

pend  upon  their  morals.  That  nation  to  which  we 
were  once  united,  as  it  has  departed  from  justice, 
eluded  and  subverted  the  wise  laws  which  formerly 
governed  it,  and  suffered  the  worst  of  crimes  to  go 
unpunished,  has  lost  its  valor,  wisdom,  and  humanity, 
and,  from  being  the  dread  and  terror  of  Europe,  has 
sunk  into  derision  and  infamy. 

"  But,  to  quit  political  subjects,  I  have  been  great- 
ly anxious  for  your  safety,  having  never  heard  of  the 
frigate  since  she  sailed,  till,  about  a  week  ago,  a  New 
York  paper  informed  that  she  was  taken  and  carried 
into  Plymouth.  I  did  not  fully  credit  this  report, 
though  it  gave  me  much  uneasiness.  I  yesterday 
beard  that  a  French  vessel  was  arrived  at  Portsmouth, 
which  brought  news  of  the  safe  arrival  of  the  Boston  ; 
but  this  wants  confirmation.  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
long  before  I  shall  be  assured  of  your  safety.  You 
must  write  me  an  account  of  your  voyage,  of  your 
situation,  and  of  every  thing  entertaining  you  can 
recollect. 

"  Be  assured,  I  am  most  affectionately 

"  Your  mother,  Abigail  Adams." 

But  it  was  destined  to  have  no  reply,  and  for  a  year 
and  a  half  she  heard  nothing  of  her  boy.  He  had  gone 
with  Mr.  Francis  Dana  to  Kussia  as  his  private  secre- 
tary, and  the  years  that  rolled  away  ere  she  again  met 
him,  were  accounted  the  saddest  of  her  checkered  life. 

One  other  son  she  felt  was  safe  with  his  father ; 
but  there  came  a  person  with  tidings  which  filled  her 
soul  with  apprehensions.     At  Corunna  a  young  boy 


74  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

was  pointed  out  to  Mm  as  the  son  of  Mr.  Adatns,  and 
this  was  all.  Cruel  suspense  kept  her  wretched  for 
weary  days,  for  if  there,  he  was  on  his  way  home  ;  and 
the  fearful  imageries  she  was  ever  conjuring  up  in  her 
brain,  unfitted  her  for  that  patient  waiting  she  was 
forced  to  endure.  The  thoughts  of  her  little  child 
alone,  or  under  the  care  of  some  indifferent  stranger, 
on  board  a  miserable  ship  in  mid-ocean,  was  harrow- 
ing, and  not  until  he  was  safe  at  last  with  her  could 
she  be  composed.  Three  years  passed  quietly  in  the 
modest  home  at  Braintree,  and  sadly  to  the  American 
Minister,  who  grew  dispirited  at  the  wearying  pro- 
cesses of  forming  treaties  and  alliances,  but  no  bright 
ray  intervened  to  cheer  the  long-divided  friends.  She 
says :  "  I  feel  unable  to  sustain  even  the  idea  thai  it 
will  be  half  that  period  ere  we  meet  again.  Could 
we  live  to  the  aire  of  the  antediluvians,  we  might  bet- 
ter  support  this  separation ;  but  when  threescore  years 
and  ten  circumscribe  the  life  of  man,  how  painful  is 
the  idea  that  of  that  short  space  only  a  few  years  of 
social  happiness  are  our  allotted  portion."  The  un- 
certainty of  Mr.  Adams'  return,  and  the  many  reasons 
given  for  his  probable  residence  abroad  many  years, 
together  with  the  desire  of  Mrs.  Adams'  life,  to  be 
once  again  with  her  husband,  induced  her  .to  make  up 
her  mind  to  go  to  him.  But  winter  had  come,  and 
she  dared  not  undertake  alone  a  voyage  so  fraught 
with  hardships.  She  looked  upon  her  children,  and 
her  heart  wavered ;  her  father's  words  rang  in  her 
ears,  "  You  must  never  go,  child,  whilst  I  live,"  and 
she  hushed  the  cry  of  her  own  heart,  and  walked  for 
ward  patiently  and  hopefully. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  75 

Mr.  Dana,  who  had  gone  with  Mr.  Adams  as  pri 
vate  secretary,  and  afterward  been  sent  to  Russia  as 
Minister,  returned  home.  She  writes  :  "  While  I  was 
in  town,  Mr.  Dana  arrived  very  unexpectedly,  for  I 
had  not  received  your  letters  by  Mr.  Thaxter.  My 
uncle  discovered  him  as  he  came  up  State  street,  and 
instantly  engaged  him  to  dine  with  him,  acquainting 
him  that  I  was  in  town,  and  at  his  house.  The  news 
soon  reached  my  ears,  '  Mr.  Dana  arrived !  Mr.  Dana 
arrived  ! '  from  every  person  you  saw ;  but  how  was 
I  affected  ?  The  tears  involuntarily  flowed  from  my 
eyes.  Though  God  is  my  witness,  I  envied  not  the 
felicity  of  others ;  yet  my  heart  swelled  with  grief, 
and  the  idea  that  I — I  only — was  left  alone,  recalled 
all  the  tender  scenes  of  separation,  and  overcame  ail 
my  fortitude.  I  retired,  and  reasoned  myself  into 
composure  sufficient  to  see  him  without  childish  emo- 
tion." The  long,  monotonous  winter  passed,  and 
when  the  warm  spring  days  came,  the  self-reliant  wife 
was  ready  for  her  journey.  Business  all  arranged ; 
her  sons  with  relatives ;  house  closed,  and  she  with 
her  daughter  ready  to  bid  adieu  to  the  many  friends 
who  crowded  around  her. 

There  was  nothing  now  to  bind  her  to  her  native 
land.  The  one  strong  tie  which  held  her  was  dis- 
solved.  No  fears  now  of  leaving  her  father  to  suffer 
in  his  old  ao-e ;  no  anxieties  lest  he  should  mourn  and 
repine  at  parting.  He  was  laid  beside  the  mother  she 
so  loved,  and  when  she  left  the  shores  of  her  native 
land,  he  had  gone  home,  and  the  grass  was  beginning 
to  grow  upon  his  new-made  grave. 


76  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE* 

Accompanied  by  her  only  daughter,  she  sailed  ill 
the  ship  "  Active.1'  Her  journal  at  sea"  is  so  interesting, 
that  detached  portions  are  quoted. 

"  I  have  been  sixteen  days  at  sea,  and  have  not 
attempted  to  write  a  single  letter.  'Tis  true,  I  have 
kept  a  journal  whenever  I  was  able ;  but  that  must 
be  close  locked  up,  unless  I  was  sure  to  hand  it  you 
with  safety.  'Tis  said  of  the  Roman  Censor,  that  one 
of  the  three  things  which  he  regretted  during  his  life 
was,  going  once  by  sea  when  he  might  have  made  his 
journey  by  land.  I  fancy  the  philosopher  was  not 
proof  against  that  most  disheartening,  dispiriting  mal- 
ady, sea-sickness.  Of  this  I  am  very  sure,  that  no 
lady  would  ever  wish  a  second  time  to  try  the  sea, 
were  the  objects  of  her  pursuit  within  the  reach  of  a 
land  journey.  I  have  had  frequent  occasions,  since  I 
came  on  board,  to  recollect  an  observation  of  my  best 
friend's,  that  '  no  beans  in  nature  was  so  disagreeable 
as  a  lady  at  sea,'  and  this  recollection  has,  in  a  great 
measure,  reconciled  me  to  the  thought  of  being  at  sea 
without  him  ;  for  one  would  not  wish,  my  dear  sister, 
to  be  thought  of  in  that  light  by  those  to  whom  we 
would  wish  to  appear  in  our  best  array.  The  decency 
and  decorum  of  the  most  delicate  female  must,  in 
some  measure,  yield  to  the  necessities  of  nature ;  and 
if  you  have  no  female  capable  of  rendering  you  the 
least  assistance,  you  will  feel  grateful^to  any  one  who 
will  feel  for  you,  and  relieve  or  compassionate  your 
sufferings.  And  this  was  truly  the  case  of  your  poor 
sister  and  all  her  female  companions,  when  not  one  of 
us  could  make  her  own  bed,  put  on  or  take  off  her 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  77 

shoes,  or  even  lift  a  finder.  As  to  our  other  clothing, 
we  wore  the  greater  part  of  it  until  we  were  able  to 
help  ourselves. 

"  Added  to  this  misfortune,  Briesler,  my  man-ser- 
vant, was  as  bad  as  any  of  us.  *  *  *  Our  sick- 
ness continued  for  ten  days,  with  some  intermission. 
We  crawled  upon  deck  whenever  we  were  able,  but 
it  was  so  cold  and  damp  that  we  could  not  remain 
long  upon  it ;  and  the  confinement  of  the  air  below, 
the  constant  rolling  of  the  vessel,  and  the  nausea  of 
the  ship,  wmich  was  much  too  tight,  contributed  to 
keep  up  our  disease.  The  vessel  is  very  deep-loaded 
with  oil  and  potash.  The  oil  leaks,  the  potash  smokes 
and  ferments.  All  adds  to  the  flavor.  When  you 
add  to  all  this  the  horrid  dirtiness  of  the  ship,  the 
slovenliness  of  the  steward,  and  the  unavoidable  slop- 
ping and  spilling  occasioned  by  the  tossing  of  the 
ship,  I  am  sure  you  will  be  thankful  that  the  pen  is 
not  in  the  hand  of  Swift  or  Smollet,  and  still  more  so 
that  you  are  far  removed  from  the  scene. 

•*  *  ■*:-  -::-  *  * 

"  'Tis  not  a  little  attention  that  we  ladies  stand  in 
need  of  at  sea ;  for  it  is  not  once  in  the  twenty-four 
hours  that  we  can  cross  the  cabin  without  being  held 
or  assisted.  Nor  can  we  go  upon  deck  without  the 
assistance  of  two  gentlemen ;  and,  when  there,  we  are 
always  bound  into  our  chairs.  Whilst  you,  I  imagine, 
are  scorching  under  the  midsummer  heat,  we  can  com- 
fortably bear  our  double  calico  gowns,  our  baize  ones 
upon  them,  and  a  cloth  cloak  in  addition  to  all  these. 
****** 


7^  LADIES    OF    THE    "WHITE    HOUSE. 

"  As  to  wind  and  weather  since  we  came  out,  thev 
have  "been  very  fortunate  for  us  in  general.  We  have 
had  ;  aim  days,  and  two  days  contrary  winds — ■ 

with  a  storm.  I  called  it ;  "but  the  sailors  say  it  was 
only  a  breeze.  This  was  upon  the  hanks  of  New- 
foundland, the  wind  at  east ;  through  the  day  we 
could  not  sit  in  our  chairs,  only  as  some  gentleman  sat 
by  us  with  his  arm  fastened  into  ours,  and  his  feet 
•d  against  a  table  or  chair  that  was  lashed  down 
with  ropes;   bottles,  mugs,  plates,  crashing  to  pieces, 

:>n  one  side  and  then  on  the  other ;  the  sea  run- 
ning mountain-high,  and  knocking  against  the  sides 
of  the  vessel  as  thousrh  it  would  burst  them.  When 
I  became  so  fatigued  with  the  incessant  motion  as  not 
to  be  able  to  sit  any  longer,  I  was  assisted  into  my 
in,  where  I  was  obliged  to  hold  myself  in  with  all 

might  the  remainder  of  the  night,  Xo  person 
who  is  a  stranger  to  the  sea  can  form  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  debility  occasioned  by  sea-sickness.  The  hard 
rocking  of  a  ship  in  a  storm,  and  the  want  of  sleep 
for  many  nights,  altogether  reduce  one  to  such  a  lassi- 
tude that  you  care  little  for  your  fate.  The  old  sea- 
men thought  nothing  of  all  this,  nor  once  entertained 
an  i  lea  of  danger.  Compared  to  what  they  have  suf- 
fered, I  do  suppose  it  was  trifling ;  bnt  to  me  it  was 
i  ming,  and  I  most  heartily  prayed,  if  this  was  on]y 
a  breeze,  to  be  delivered  from  a  storm.  If  the  wind 
and  weather  continue  as  favorable  as  they  have  hith- 
erto been,  we  expect  to  make  our  passage  in  thirty 

.  which  is  going  a  hundred  miles  a  day.     'Tis  a 
:■:  of  ocean  which  we  have  to  traverse.      I 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  79 

have  contemplated  it  with  its  various  appearances.  It 
is,  indeed,  a  secret  world  of  wonders,  and  one  of  the 
sublimest  objects  in  nature. 

"  '  Thou  mak'st  the  foaming  billovrs  roar, 
Thou  rnak'st  the  roaring  billows  sleep.' 

They  proclaim  the  Deity,  and  are  objects  too  vast  fo] 
the  control  of  feeble  man.  That  Beins;  alone  who 
'  maketk  the  clouds  His  chariots,  and  rideth  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind,'  is  equal  to  the  government  of  this 
stupendous  part  of  creation." 

"  7th  July,  1784. 

"  If  I  did  not  write  every  day,  I  should  lose  the 
days  of  the  month  and  of  the  week ;  confined  all  day 
on  account  of  the  weather,  which  is  foggy,  misty,  and 
wet.  You  can  hardly  judge  how  irksome  this  confine- 
ment is.  When,  the  whole  ship  is  at  our  service,  it  is 
little  better  than  a  prison.  We  suppose  ourselves 
near  the  Western  Isles.  O  dear  variety !  how  pleas- 
ing: to  the  human  mind  is  change !  I  cannot  find  such 
a  fund  of  entertainments  within  myself  as  not  to  re- 
quire outward  objects  for  my  amusement.  Nature 
abounds  with  variety,  and  the. mind,  unless  fixed  down 
by  habit,  delights  in  contemplating  new  objects  ;  and 
the  variety  of  scenes  which  present  themselves  to  the 
senses  were  entirely  designed  to  prevent  our  attention 
from  being  too  long  fixed  upon  any  one  object.  '  This,' 
says  a  late  celebrated  medical  writer,  '  greatly  con- 
duces to  the  health  of  the  animal  frame.  Your  studi- 
ous people  and  your  deep  thinkers,'  he  observes,  l  sel- 
dom enjoy  either  health  or  spirits.' 


SO  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

"  I  went,  last  evening,  upon  deck,  at  the  invita- 
tion of  Mr.  Foster,  to  view  the  phenomenon  of  na- 
ture, a  blazing  ocean.  A  light  flame  spreads  over  the 
ocean,  in  appearance  with  thousands  of  thousands  of 
sparkling  gems,  resembling  our  fire-flies  in  a  dark 
night.  It  has  a  most  beautiful  appearance.  I  never 
view  the  ocean  without  being  filled  with  ideas  of  the 
sublime. 

"  Monday  we  had  a  fair  wTind,  but  too  much  to  be 
able  to  write,  as  it  was  right  aft,  and  we  pitched  ex- 
ceedingly, which  is  a  motion  more  disagreeable  to  me 
than  the  rocking,  though  less  fatiguing.  On  Tuesday 
a  calm.  Should  you  not  suppose  that  in  a  calm  we  at 
least  had  the  satisfaction  of  lying  still  ?  Alas  !  it  fe 
far  otherwise,  as  my  flesh  and  bones  wutness ;  a  calm 
generally  succeeds  a  storm  or  a  fresh  breeze ;  the  sea 
has  a  great  swell  after  the  wind  is  silent,  so  that  the 
ship  lies  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves,  and  is 
knocked  from  side  to  side  with  a  force  you  can  form 
no  idea  of  wuthout  experience.  I  have  been  more 
wearied  and  worn  out  with  the  motion  and  exercise 
of  a  calm,  than  in  riding  fifty  miles  in  a  day.  We 
have  had  three  days  in  succession  nearly  calm ;  the 
first  is  the  most  troublesome,  as  the  motion  of  the  sea 
subsides  in  a  degree.  It  is,  however,  a  great  trial  of 
one's  patience  to  think  yourself  within  a  few  days  of 
your  desired  spot,  to  look  at  it  as  the  promised  land, 
and  yet  to  be  held  fast. 

"  '  Yc  too,  ye  •winds,  I  raise  my  voice  to  you. 
In  what  far-clistant  region  of  the  sky, 
Hushed  in  deep  silence,  sleep  you  when  'ti3  calm  ? ' 


LADIES    Or    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  81 

u  I  begin  to  think  that  a  calm  is  not  desirable  in 
any  situation  in  life.  Every  object  is  most  beautiful 
in  motion ;  a  ship  under  sail,  trees  gently  agitated 
with  the  wind,  and  a  fine  woman  dancing,  are  three 
instances  in  point.  Man  was  made  for  action,  and  for 
bustle,  too,  I  believe.  I  am  quite  out  of  conceit  with 
calms.  I  have  more  reason  for  it,  too,  than  many  oth 
ers,  for  the  dampness  of  the  ship  has  for  several  days 
threatened  me  with  the  rheumatism ;  and  yesterday 
morning  I  was  seized  with  it  in  good  earnest.  I 
could  not  raise  my  head,  nor  get  out  of  bed  without 
assistance.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  fever,  and  was  very 
sick.  I  was  fearful  of  this  before  I  came  to  sea,  and 
had  proper  medicine  put  up,  which  the  doctor  admin- 
istered. What  with  that,  good  nursing,  and  rubbing, 
flannel,  &c,  I  am  able,  to-day,  to  sit  up  in  my  bed 
and  write,  as  you  see.  To-day  we  have  a  small  wind, 
but  'tis  right  ahead.  This  is  still  mortifying,  but 
what  we  had  reason  to  expect. 

"  We  have  but  one  passenger  whom  we  should  have 
been  willing  to  have  been  without ;  I  have  no  particu- 
lar reason  to  dislike  him  as  he  is  studiously  complai- 
sant to  me  ;  but  I  know  his  politeness  to  me  is  not 
personally  upon  my  own  account,  but  because  of  my 
connection  which  gives  me  importance  sufficient  to 
entitle  me  to  his  notice.     Abby  says  he  is  exactly  such 

a  character  as  Mr.  A .     I  really  think  there  is  a 

striking  resemblance.  He  was  always  inquiring, 
4  Who  was  such  a  general  ?  What  was  his  origin  and 
rank  in  life  ? '  I  have  felt  a  disposition  to  quarrel 
with  him  several   times,  but  have  restrained   myself, 


B2  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  only  observed  to  him,  mildly,  that  merit,  not  ti- 
tle, gave  a  man  preeminence  in  our  country ;  that  I 
did  not  doubt  it  was  a  mortifvin^  circumstance  to  the 
British  nobility  to  find  themselves  sd  often  conquered  by 
mechanics  and  mere  husbandmen  ;  but  that  we  esteemed 
it  our  glory  to  draw  such  characters  not  only  into  the 
field,  but  into  the  Senate ;  and  I  believe  no  one  would 
deny  they  had  shone  in  both.     All  our  passengers  en- 

1  this  conversation,  and  the  gentleman  was  civil 
enough  to  drop  the  subject ;  but  the  venom  spits  out 
very  often  ;  yet  the  creature  is  sensible  and  entertain- 
ing when  upon  indifferent  subjects.  He  is  a  haughty 
Scotchman ;  he  hates  the  French,  and  upon  all  occa- 
sions ridicules  them  and  their  country.  I  fancy,  from 
his  haughty  airs,  that  his  own  rank  in  life  has  not  been 
superior  to  those  whom  he  affects  to  despise.  He  is 
not  a  man  of  liberal  sentiments,  and  is  less  beloved 
than  any  passenger  we  have  on  board.  A  man's 
humor  contributes  much  to  the  making  him  agreeable 
or  otherwise.  Dark  and  sour  humors,  especially  those 
who  have  a  spice  of  malevolence  in  them,  are  vastly 
disagreeable.  Such  men  have  no  music  in  their  souls. 
I  believe  he  would  hardly  be  so  complaisant,  if  he 
knew  how  meanlv  I  thought  of  him,  but  he  deserves 
it  all ;  his  whole  countenance  shows  his  heart. 

"Heaven  be  praised,  I  have  safely  landed  upon  the 
British  coast.  How  flattering,  how  smooth  the  ocean, 
how  delightful  was  Sunday,  the  15th  of  July.  We 
flattered  ourselves  with  the  prospect  of  a  gentle  breeze 
to  carry  ns  on  shore  at  Portsmouth,  where  we  agreed 
to  land,  as  going  up  the  channel  always  proves  tediou-  ; 


LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  83 

but  on  Sunday  night  the  wind  shifted  to  the  south 
west,  which,  upon  this  coast,  is  the  same  with  our 
north-east  winds.  It  blew  a  gale  on  Sunday  night,  on 
Monday  and  Monday  night,  equal  to  an  equinoctial. 
We  were  obliged  to  carry  double-reefed  top-sails  only, 
and  what  added  to  our  misfortune,  was  that  though 
we  had  made  land  the  day  before,  it  was  so  thick  thai 
we  could  not  certainly  determine  what  land  it  was. 
It  is  now  Tuesday,  and  I  have  slept  only  four  hours 
since  Saturday  night,  such  was  the  tossing  and  tum- 
bling on  board  our  ship.  The  Captain  never  left  the 
deck  the  whole  time  either  to  eat  or  sleep,  though 
they  told  me  there  was  no  danger ;  nor  do  I  suppose 
that  there  really  was  any,  as  we  had  sea-room  enough. 
Yet  the  great  number  of  vessels  constantly  coming 
out  of  the  channel,  and  the  apprehensions  of  being 
run  down,  or  being  nearer  land  than  we  imagined, 
kept  me  constantly  agitated.  *  *  *  The 
Captain  came  to  anchor  with  his  ship  in  the  Downs, 
and  the  little  town  of  Deal  lay  before  us.  Some  of 
the  gentlemen  talked  of  going  on  shore  with  the  pilot- 
boat,  and  sending  for  us  if  the  wind  subsided.  The 
boat  was  about  as  large  as  a  Charlestown  ferry-boat, 
and  the  distance  from  the  ship  about  twice  as  far  as 
from  Boston  to  Charlestown ;  a  shore  as  bold  as  Nas- 
tasket's  beach ;  no  wharf,  but  you  must  be  run  right 
on  shore  by  a  wave,  where  a  number  of  men  stand  to 
catch  hold  of  the  boat  and  pull  it  up.  The  surf  ran 
six  feet  high,  but  this  we  did  not  know  until  driven 
on  by  a  wave ;  for  the  pilots,  eager  to  get  money,  as- 
sured the  gentlemen  they  could  land  us  safely  without 


84  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

our  being  wet,  and  as  we  saw  no  prospect  of  its  be« 
ing  better  through  the  day,  we  accordingly  agreed  to 
go.  We  were  wrapped  up  and  lowered  from  the  ship 
into  the  boat ;  the  whole  ship's  crew  eager  to  assist  us ; 
the  gentlemen  attentive  and  kind  as  though  we  were 
all  brothers  and  sisters.  We  have  spent  a  month  to- 
gether and  were  as  happy  as  the  sea  would  permit  us 
to  be. 

"  We  set  off  from  the  vessel,  now  mounting  upon  the 
top  of  a  wave  high  as  a  steeple,  and  then  so  low  that 
the  boat  was  not  to  be  seen.  I  could  keep  myself  up 
no  other  way  than  as  one  of  the  gentlemen  stood  braced 
up  against  the  boat,  having  fast  hold  of  me,  and  I  with 
both  my  arms  round  him ;  the  other  ladies  were  held  in 
the  same  manner,  whilst  every  wave  gave  us  a  broadside, 
and  finally  a  wave  landed  us  with  the  utmost  force 
upon  the  beach,  the  broad  side  of  the  boat  right  against 
the  shore,  which  was  owing  to  the  bad  management  of 
the  men,  and  the  high  -sea.  We  consequently  all 
pressed  upon  the  side  next  the  shore,  to  get  out  as 
quick  as  possible,  which  we  need  not  have  done,  if  we 
had  known  what  I  afterward  found  to  be  the  case : 
that  it  was  the  only  way  in  which  we  could  be  landed, 
and  not,  as  I  at  first  supposed,  owing  to  the  bad 
management  of  the  boatmen.  We  should  have  sat 
still  for  a  succession  of  waves  to  have  carried  us  up 
higher,  but  the  roar  of  them  terrified  us  all,  and  we 
expected  the  next  would  fill  our  boat;  so  out  we 
sprang,  as  fast  as  possible,  sinking  every  step  into  the 
sand,  and  looking  like  a  parcel  of  naiads,  just  rising 
from  the  sea.     A  public  house  was  fortunately  just  at 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  S5 

hand,  into  which  we  thankfully  entered,  changed  out 
clothing,  dried,  ourselves,  and  not  being  able  to  pro 
cure  carriages   that    day,  we    engaged    them  for  six 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  and.  took  lodgings  there  all 
of  us,  ten  in  number/' 

Mrs.  Adarns  reached  London  the  twenty-third  of 
July,  1784.  "My  first  inquiry,"  she  says,  "was  for 
Mr.  Adams.  I  found  that  my  son  had  been  a  month 
waiting  for  my  arrival,  expecting  me  with  Callaghen, 
but  that  upon  getting  letters  by  him,  he  returned  to 
the  Hague."  Her  son  retraced  his  steps  at  once  to 
London,  and  when  he  presented  himself,  his  mother 
and  sister  could  scarcely  convince  themselves  that  he 
was  the  same,  "  his  eyes  only  appearing,"  says  his 
mother,  u  what  he  once  was."  It  was  the  first  time  she 
had  seen  him  in  six  years,  and  he  had  grown  out  of 
all  infantine  appearance.  Meeting  her  husband,  Mr?. 
Adams  and  her  two  children  proceeded  with  him  to 
Paris,  and  established  themselves  at  Auteuil,  a  small 
village  adjoining  Passi,  the  residence  of  Doctor  Frank- 
liu.  One  year  the  long  severed  family  remained  at 
this  beautiful  retreat,  and  then  took  up  their  residence 
iu  London,  Mr.  Adams  having  been  appointed  minis- 
ter to  that  government.  Mrs.  Adams  found  herself,  at 
the  age  of  forty,  suddenly  transplanted  into  a  scene 
wholly  new.  From  a  life  of  the  utmost  retirement,  in 
a  small  and  quiet  country  town  of  Xew  England,  she 
was  at  once  thrown  into  the  busy  and  bustling 
scenes  of  the  populous  and  wealthy  cities  of  Europe. 
Not  only  was  her  position  novel  to  herself,  but  there 
had  been  nothing  like  it  among  her  countrywomen. 


86  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

She  was  the  first  representative  of  her  sex  from  the 
United  States  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain.  The  im- 
pressions made  upon  her  mind  were,  therefore,  received 
when  it  was  uncommonly  open  and  free  from  ordinary 
restraints,  which  an  established  routine  of  precedents 
is  apt  to  create.  Her  residence  in  France  during  the 
first  year  of  her  European  experience,  appears  to  have 
"been  much  enjoyed,  notwithstanding  the  embarrass- 
ment felt  by  her  from  not  speaking  the  language. 
That  in  England,  which  lasted  three  years,  was  some- 
what affected  by  the  temper  of  the  sovereign :  George 
and  his  queen  could  not  get  over  the  mortification  at 
tending  the  loss  of  the  American  Colonies,  nor  at  all 
times  suppress  the  manifestation  of  it,  when  the  pres- 
ence of  their  minister  forced  the  subject  on  their  recol- 
lection. An  extract  from  a  letter  describing  her  pre- 
sentation to  the  court  is  too  characteristic  to  be  passed 
over. 

"  The  ceremony  of  presentation  here  is  considered 
as  indispensable.  There  are  four  minister-plenipoten- 
tiaries1 ladies  here,  but  one  ambassador,  and  he  has  no 
lady.  One  is  obliged  here  to  attend  the  circles  of  the 
queen,  which  are  held  in  summer  once  a  fortnight,  but 
once  a  week  the  rest  of  the  year ;  and  what  renders  it 
exceedingly  expensive  is,  that  you  cannot  go  twice  the 
same  season  in  the  same  dress,  and  a  court  dress  you 
cannot  make  use  of  anywhere  else.  I  directed  my 
mantua-maker  to  let  my  dress  be  elegant,  but  plain  as 
I  could  possibly  appear  with  decency ;  accordingly  it  is 
white  lutestring,  covered  and  full  trimmed  with  white 
crape,  festooned  with  lilac  ribbon  and  mock  point  lace. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  87 

over  a  hoop  of  enormous  extent.  *  *  *  At  two 
o'clock  we  went  to  the  circle,  which  is  in  the  drawing- 
room  of  the  queen.  We  passed  through  several  apart- 
ments, lined  as  usual  with  spectators  upon  these  occa 
sions.  As  I  passed  into  the  drawing-room,  Lord  Car- 
marthen and  Sir  Clement  Cotterel  Dormer  were  present- 
ed to  me.  The  Swedish  and  Polish  ministers  made  their 
compliments,  and  several  other  gentlemen ;  but  not  a 
single  lady  did  I  know  until  the  Countess  of  Effing- 
ham came,  who  was  very  civil.  There  were  three 
young  ladie3,  daughters  of  the  Marquis  of  Lothian,  who 
were  to  be  presented  at  the  same  time,  and  two  brides. 
We  were  placed  in  a  circle  round  the  drawing-room, 
which  was  very  full,  I  believe  two  hundred  persons 
present.  Only  think  of  the  task.  The  royal  family 
have  to  go  round  to  every  person,  and  find  small  talk 
enough  to  speak  to  all  of  them,  though  they  very  pru- 
dently speak  in  a  whisper,  so  that  only  the  person  who 
stands  next  you  can  hear  what  is  said.  The  king  en- 
ters the  room,  and  goes  round  to  the  right ;  the  queen 
and  the  princesses,  to  the  left.  The  lord-in-waiting  pre- 
sents you  to  the  king ;  and  the  lady-in-waiting  does  the 
same  to  her  majesty.  The  king  is  a  personable  man  • 
but,  my  dear  sister,  he  has  a  certain  countenance,  which 
you  and  I  have  often  remarked :  a  red  face  and  white 
eyebrows.  The  queen  has  a  similar  countenance ;  and 
the  numerous  royal  family  confirm  the  observation. 
Persons  are  not  placed  according  to  their  rank  in  the 
drawing-room,  but  promiscuously ;  and  when  the  king 
comes  in,  he  takes  persons  as  they  stand.  When  he 
came  to  me,  Lord  Onslow  said,  '  Mrs.  Adams ; '  upon 


88  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

which  I  drew  off  my  right-hand  glove,  and  his  Majesty 
saluted  my  left  cheek ;  then  asked  me  if  I  had  taken  a 
walk  to-day.  I  could  have  told  his  Majesty  that  I  had 
been  all  the  morning  preparing  to  wait  upon  him;  but 
I  replied,  '  No,  Sire.'  '  Why,  don't  you  love  walking  ? ' 
savs  he.  I  answered,  that  I  was  rather  indolent  in  that 
respect.     He  then  bowed  and  passed  on. 

"It  was  more  than  two  hours  after  this  before  it 
came  to  my  turn  to  be  presented  to  the  queen.  The 
circle  was  so  large  that  the  company  were  four  hours 
standing.  The  queen  was  evidently  embarrassed  when 
I  was  presented  to  her.  I  had  disagreeable  feelings, 
too.  She,  however,  said, '  Mrs.  Adams,  have  you  got 
into  your  house  ?  Pray,  how  do  you  like  the  situation 
of  it?'  whilst  the  Princess  Royal  looked  compassionate, 
and  asked  me  if  I  was  not  much  fatigued;  and  ob- 
served that  it  was  a  very  full  drawing-room.  Her  sis- 
ter, who  came  next,  Princess  Augusta,  after  having 
asked  your  niece  if  she  was  ever  in  England  before, 
and  her  answering  '  yes,1  inquired  of  me  how  long  ago, 
and  supposed  it  was  when  she  was  very  young.  And 
all  this  is  said  with  much  affability,  and  the  ease  and 
freedom  of  old  acquaintance.  The  manner  in  which 
they  make  their  tour  round  the  room  is,  first,  the  queen, 
the  lady-in-waiting  behind  her,  holding  up  her  train; 
next  to  her,  the  Princess  Royal ;  after  her  Princess  Au- 
gusta, and  their  lady-in-waiting  behind  them.  They  are 
pretty  rather  than  beautiful,  well-shaped,  with  fair 
complexions,  and  a  tincture  of  the  king's  countenance. 

u  The  two  sisters  look  much  alike :  they  were  both 
dressed  in  black  and  silver  silk,  with  a  silver  netting 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  89 

upon  the  coat,  and  their  heads  full  of  diamond  pins 
The  queen  was  in  purple  and  silver.  She  is  not  well- 
shaped  nor  handsome.  As  to  the  ladies  of  the  court, 
rank  and  title  may  compensate  for  want  of  personal 
charms  ;  but  they  are,  in  general,  very  plain,  ill-shaped, 
and  offTy." 

The  subsequent  conduct  of  the  queen  was  hardly 
as  good  as  on  this  first  occasion,  and  Mi's.  Adams  ap- 
pears never  to  have  forgotten  it,  for,  at  a  much  later 
period,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, the  throne  of  England  was  thought  to  be  in  dan- 
ger, she  writes  to  her  daughter  with  regret  at  the 
prospect  for  the  country,  but  without  sympathy  for 
the  queen.  "  Humiliation  for  Charlotte,1'  she  says,  "is 
no  sorrow  for  me  ;  she  richly  deserves  her  full  portion 
for  the  contempt  and  scorn  which  she  took  pains  to 
discover." 

Mrs.  Adams'  penetrating  eye  and  discerning  mind 
protected  her  against  the  fault  so  fashionable  now,  of 
preferring  foreign  luxuries  and  elegancies,  to  her  more 
humble  home  in  the  United  States,  and  she  writes  to 
her  sister,  that  she  should  quit  Europe  with  more 
pleasure  than  she  came  into  it,  uncontaminated,  she 
says,  witli  its  vices  and  manners.  "  I  have  learned,*1 
she  continues,  "to  know  the  world  and  its  value;  I 
have  seen  high  life ;  I  have  witnessed  the  luxury  and 
pomp  of  state,  the  power  of  riches  and  the  influence 
of  titles,  and  have  beheld  all  ranks  bow  before  them 
as  the  only  shrine  worthy  of  worship.  Xotwithstand- 
ing  this,  I  feel  that  I  can  return  to  my  little  cottage, 
and  be  happier  than  here  ;  and,  if  we  have  not  wealth, 


90  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

we  Lave  what  is  "better — integrity.  As  to  the  ladies 
of  this  country,  their  manners  appear  to  be  totally  de- 
praved. It  is  in  the  middle  ranks  of  society  that  vir- 
tue and  morality  are  yet  to  be  found.  Nothing  does 
more  injury  to  the  female  character  than  frequenting 
public  places;  and  the  rage  which  prevails  now  for 
the  watering-places,  and  the  increased  number  of  them, 
are  become  a  national  evil,  as  they  promote  and  en- 
courage dissipation,  mix  all  characters  promiscuously, 
and  are  the  resort  of  the  most  unprincipled  female 
characters  who  are  not  ashamed  to  show  their  faces 
wherever  men  dare  to  go.  Modesty  and  diffidence 
are  called  ill-breedinsr  and  ignorance  of  the  world  :  an 

CD  CD  7 

impudent  stare  is  substituted  in  lieu  of  that  modest 
deportment  and  that  retiring  grace  which  awes  while 
it  enchants. 

"To  derive  a  proper  improvement  from  company,  it 
ought  to  be  select,  and  to  consist  of  persons  respec- 
table both  for  their  morals  and  their  understanding  : 
but  such  is  the  prevailing  taste,  that  provided  you  can 
be  in  a  crowd,  with  here  and  there  a  glittering  star,  it 
is  considered  of  little  importance  what  the  character 
of  the  person  is  who  wears  it. 

"Few  consider  that  the  foundation-stone  and  the 
pillar  on  which  they  erect  the  fabric  of  their  felicity, 
must  be  in  their  own  hearts,  otherwise  the  winds  of 
dissipation  will  shake  it,  and  the  floods  of  pleasure 
overwhelm  it  in  ruins.  What  is  the  chief  end  of 
man?  is  a  subject  well  worth  the  investigation  of 
every  rational  being.  What,  indeed,  is  life,  or  its  en- 
joyment, without  settled  principles,  laudable  purposes, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  91 

mental  exertions,  and  internal  comfort,  that  sunshine 
of  tine  soul ;  and  how  are  these  to  be  acquired  in  the 
hum  and  tumult  of  the  world  ?  " 

In  the  summer  of  1788.  Mr.  Adams  requested  and 
received  permission  to  return  home.  During  her  ab 
sence  in  Europe,  Mrs.  Adams  had  resided  one  year  in 
France  and  three  years  in  England.  She  had  made 
several  excursions  of  several  days,  to  visit  some  of  the 
beautiful  scenes  and  magnificent  country  seats  which 
abound  in  England  ;  and  before  her  return,  had,  in 
company  with,  her  husband,  visited  the  scarcely  less 
magnificent  scenerv  of  the  Netherlands.  In  her  own 
country  she  had  from  her  childhood  been  accustomed 
to  view  and  admire  the  scenery  between  her  native 
village  and  Boston,  scarcely  surpassed  for  natural 
beauty  by  any  object  upon  earth.  In  France,  in  Eng- 
land, in  Holland  she  had  seen  the  highest  attainments 
of  art  and  the  most  unbounded  profusion  of  wealth 
lavished  to  improve  and  adorn  the  simple  beauties  of 
nature. 

The  Government  was  organized  under  its  present 
Constitution  in  April,  1789,  and  Mr.  Adams  wras 
elected  Vice-President.  He  established  himself  in 
New  York,  and  from  there  Mrs.  Adams  writes  to  her 
sister,  "  that  she  would  return  to  Braintree  during  the 
recess  of  Congress,  but  the  season  of  the  year  renders 
the  attempt  impracticable."  She  speaks  of  the 
"  drawing-rooms  "  held  by  Mrs.  Washington,  and  the 
many  invitations  she  receives  to  entertainments,  but 
mentions  that  the  health  of  herself,  and  the  illness  of 
her  son  deters  her  from  going  much  into  society.     Af 


92  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

ter  a  residence  of  one  year  in  New  York,  the  seat  of 
government  was  removed  to  Philadelphia.  She  says 
in  a  letter  to  her  daughter,  "  that  she  dined  with  the 
President  in  company  with  the  ministers  and  ladies  of 
the  court,"  and  that  "  he  asked  very  affectionately 
after  her  and  the  children,"  and  "  at  the  table  nicked 
the  sugar  plums  from  a  cake  and  requested  me  to  take 
them  for  Master  John."  In  February,  1707,  Mr. 
Adams  succeeded  President  Washington,  and  from 
Braintee  she  wrote  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all 
her  noble  effusions : 

"  The  sun  is  dressed  in  brightest  beams 
To  give  thy  honors  to  the  day. 

"  And  may  it  prove  an  auspicious  prelude  to  each 
ensuing  season.  You  have  this  day  to  declare  your- 
self head  of  a  nation.  '  And  now,  O  Lord  my  God, 
thou  hast  made  thy  servant  ruler  over  the  people ; 
give  unto  him  an  understanding  heart,  that  he  may 
know  how  to  go  out  and  come  in  before  this  great  peo- 
ple ;  that  he  may  discern  between  good  and  bad.  For 
who  is  able  to  judge  this  thy  so  great  a  people : '  were 
the  words  of  a  royal  sovereign,  and  not  less  applicable 
to  him  who  is  invested  with  the  Chief  Magistracy  of 
a  nation,  though  he  wear  not  a  crown  nor  the  robes  of 
royalty.  My  thoughts  and  my  meditations  are  with 
you,  though  personally  absent;  and  my  petitions  to 
heaven  are  that  'the  things  which  make  for  peace  may 
not  be  hidden  from  your  eyes.'  My  feelings  are  not 
those  of  pride  or  ostentation  upon  the  occasion.  They 
are  solemnized  by  a  sense  of  the  obligations,  the  im- 


LADIES    OF    TI1E    WHITE    HOUSE.  93 

portaut  trusts,  and  numerous  duties  connected  with  it 
That  you  may  be  enabled  to  discharge  them  with 
honor  to  yourself,  with  justice  and  impartiality  to  your 
country,  and  with  satisfaction  to  this  great  people, 
shall  be  the  daily  prayer  of  yours — " 

Soon  as  the  funeral  rites  of  Mrs.  Adams,  the  ven- 
erable mother  of  President  Adams,  were  performed, 
and  the  sad  leave-takings  over,  Mrs.  Adams  set  out  to 
join  her  husband  at  Philadelphia,  from  whence  the 
seat  of  government  was  removed  in  June,  1800,  to 
Washington  City. 

Her  impression  of  the  place  is  graphically  described 
in  the  following  letter  to  her  daughter,  Mra  Smith : 

"Washington,  Novembe'  21st,  1S00. 

"My  Deae  Child:— 

"  I  arrived  here  on  Sunday  last,  and  without  meeting 
with  any  accident  worth  noticing,  except  losing  our- 
selves when  we  left  Baltimore,  and  going  eight  or  nine 
miles  on  the  Frederick  road,  by  which  means  we  were 
obliged  to  go  the  other  eight  through  woods,  where 
we  wandered  two  hours  without  finding  a  guide  or  the 
path.     Fortunately,  a  straggling  black  came  up  with 
us,  and  we  engaged  him  as  a  guide  to  extricate  us  out 
of  our  difficulty.     But  woods  are  all  you  see  from  Bal- 
timore until  you  reach  the  city,— which  is  only  so  in 
name.     Here  and  there  is  a  small  cot,  without  a  glass 
window,  interspersed  amongst  the  forests,  through  which 
you  travel  miles  without  seeing  any  human  being.     In 
the  city  there  are  buildings  enough,  if  they  were  com- 
pact and  finished,  to  accommodate  Congress  and  those 


94  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

attached  to  it ;  but  as  they  are,  and  scattered  as  they 
are,  I  see  no  great  comfort  for  them.  The  river,  which 
runs  up  to  Alexandria,  is  in  full  view  of  my  window,  and 
I  see  the  vessels  as  they  pass  and  repass.  The  house  is 
upon  a  grand  and  superb  scale,  requiring  about  thirty 
servants  to  attend  and  keep  the  apartments  in  proper 
order,  and  perform  the  ordinary  business  of  the  house 
and  stables :  an  establishment  very  well  proportioned 
to  the  President's  salary.  The  lighting  the  apartments, 
from  the  kitchen  to  parlors  and  chambers,  is  a  tax  in- 
deed ;  and  the  fires  we  are  obliged  to  keep  to  secure  us 
from  daily  agues,  is  another  very  cheering  comfort.  To 
assist  us  in  this  great  castle,  and  render  less  attendance 
necessary,  bells  are  wholly  wanting,  not  one  single  one 
being  hung  through  the  whole  house,  and  promises  are 
all  you  can  obtain.  This  is  so  great  an  inconvenience, 
rh..:  I  know  not  what  to  do,  or  how  to  do.  The  ladies 
from  Georgetown  and  in  the  city  have  many  of  them 
visited  me.  Yesterday  I  returned  fifteen  visits, — but 
such  a  place  as  Georgetown  appears, — why  our  Milton 
is  beautiful.  But  no  comparisons ; — if  they  will  put 
me  up  some  bells,  and  let  me  have  wood  enough  to 
keep  fires,  I  design  to  be  pleased.  I  could  content 
myself  almost  anywhere  three  months ;  but  surrounded 
with  forests,  can  you  believe  that  wood  is  not  to  be 
had,  because  people  cannot  be  found  to  cut  and  cart 
it  ?  Briesler  entered  into  a  contract  with  a  man  to 
supply  him  with  wood;  a  small  part,  a  few  cords  only, 
has  be  been  able  to  get.  Most  of  that  was  expended 
to  dry  the  walls  of  the  house  before  we  came  in,  and 
yesterday  the  man  told  hira  it  was  impossible  for  him 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  95 

to  procure  it  to  be  cut  and  carted.  He  has  had  re- 
course to  coals :  but  we  cannot  get  grates  made  and 
set.     We  have  indeed  come  into  a  new  country. 

"You  must  keep  all  this  to  yourself,  and  when  asked 
liow  I  like  it,  say  that  I  write  you  the  situation  is  beau- 
tiful, which  is  true.  The  house  is  made  habitable,  but 
there  is  not  a  single  apartment  finished,  and  all  within- 
side,  except  the  plastering,  has  been  done  since  Bries- 
ler  came.  We  have  not  the  least  fence,  yard,  or  other 
convenience,  without,  and  the  great  unfinished  au- 
dience-room I  make  a  drying-room  of,  to  hang  up  the 
clothes  in.  The  principal  stairs  are  not  up,  and  will 
not  be  this  winter.  Six  chambers  are  made  comfort- 
able; two  are  occupied  by  the  President  and  Mr. 
Shaw  ;  two  lower  rooms,  one  for  a  common  parlor  and 
one  for  a  levee  room.  Up-stairs  there  is  the  oval  room, 
which  is  designed  for  the  drawing-room,  and  has  the 
crimson  furniture  in  it.  It  is  a  very  handsome  room 
now,  but  when  completed  will  be  beautiful.  If  the 
twelve  years,  in  which  this  place  has  been  considered 
as  the  futur#  seat  of  government,  had  been  improved, 
as  they  would  have  been  if  in  New  England,  very 
many  of  the  present  inconveniences  would  have  been 
removed.  It  is  a  beautiful  spot,  capable  of  every  im- 
provement, and  the  more  I  view  it,  the  more  I  am 
delighted  with  it.  Since  I  sat  down  to  write,  I  have 
been  called  down  to  a  servant  from  Mount  Vernon, 
with  a  billet  from  Major  Custis,  and  a  haunch  of  veni- 
son, and  a  kind,  congratulatory  letter  from  Mrs.  Lewis, 
upon  my  arrival  in  the  city,  with  Mrs.  Washington's 
love,  inviting  me  to  Mount  Vernon,  where,  health  per- 


96  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

mitting,  I  will  go,  before  I  leave  this  place.  *  *  * 
Two  articles  are  much  distressed  for :  the  one  is  bells, 
but  the  more  important  one  is  wood.  Yet  you  cannot 
see  wood  for  trees.  No  arrangement  has  been  made, 
but  by  promises  never  performed,  to  supply  the  new- 
comers with  fuel.  Of  the  promises,  Briesler  ha  d  re- 
ceived his  full  share.  He  had  procured  nine  cords  of 
wood :  between  six  and  seven  of  that  was  kindly  burnt 
up  to  dry  the  walls  of  the  house,  which  ought  to  have 
been  done  by  the  commissioners,  but  which,  if  left  to 
them,  would  have  remained  undone  to  this  clay.  Con- 
gress poured  in,  but  shiver,  shiver.  No  wood-cutters 
nor  carters  to  be  had  at  any  rate.  We  are  now  in- 
debted to  a  Pennsylvania  waggon  to  bring  us,  through 
the  first  clerk  in  the  Treasury  Office,  one  cord  and  a 
half  of  wood,  which  is  all  we  have  for  this  house, 
where  twelve  fires  are  constantly  required,  and  where, 
we  are  told,  the  roads  will  soon  be  so  bad  that  it  can- 
not be  drawn.  Briesler  procured  two  hundred  bush- 
els of  coal,  or  we  must  have  suffered.  This  is  the  situ- 
ation of  almost  eveiy  person.  The  public  officers  have 
sent  to  Philadelphia  for  wood-cutters  and  waggons. " 

"  The  vessel  which  has  my  clothes  and  other  mat- 
ter is  not  arrived.  The  ladies  are  impatient  for  a 
drawing-room;  I  have  no  looking-glasses,  but  dwarfs, 
for  this  house ;  nor  a  twentieth  part  lamps  enough  to 
light  it.  Many  thing3  were  stolen,  many  were  broken, 
by  the  removal ;  amongst  the  number,  my  tea-china  is 
more  than  half  missing.  Georgetown  affords  nothing. 
My  rooms  are  very  pleasant,  and  warm,  whilst  the 
doors  of  the  hall  are  closed. 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  97 

"  You  can  scarce  believe  that  here  in.  this  wilder- 
ness-city, I  should  find  myself  so  occupied  as  it  is.  My 
visitors,  some  of  them,  come  three  and  four  miles. 
The  return  of  one  of  them  is  the  work  of  one  day 
Most  of  the  ladies  reside  in  Georgetown,  or  in  scattered 
parts  of  the  city  at  two  and  three  miles  distance. 
We  have  all  been  very  well  as  yet ;  if  Ave  can  by  any 
means  get  wood,  we  shall  not  let  our  fires  go  out,  but 
it  is  at  a  price  indeed  ;  from  four  dollars  it  has  risen 
to  nine.  Some  say  it  will  fall,  but  there  must  be  more 
industry  than  is  to  be  found  here  to  bring  half  enough 
to  the  market  for  the  consumption  of  the  inhabitants." 

The  Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith,  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, from  Connecticut,  describing  Washington  as  it 
appeared  to  him  on  his  arrival  there,  wrote  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  Our  approach  to  the  city  was  accompanied  with 
sensations  not  easily  described.  One  wing  of  the 
Capitol  only  had  been  erected,  which,  with  the  Presi- 
dent's House,  a  mile  distant  from  it,  both  constructed 
with  white  sandstone,  were  striking  objects  in  dismal 
contrast  with  the  scene  around  them.  Instead  of  re- 
cognizing the  avenues  and  streets  portrayed  on  the 
plan  of  the  city,  not  one  was  visible  unless  we  except 
a  road,  with  two  buildings  on  each  side  of  it,  called  the 
New  Jersey  Avenue.  The  Pennsylvania,  leading  as 
laid  down  on  paper,  from  the  Capitol  to  the  Presi- 
dential mansion,  was  then  nearly  the  whole  distance  a 
deep  morass,  covered  with  alder  bushes,  which  were 
cut  through  the  width  of  the  intended  Avenue  the  then 
ensuing  winter.  *  *  *  *  The  roads  in  every  di 
7 


98  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

rection  were  muddy  and  nn improved ;  a  side-walk  was 
attempted  in  one  instance  by  a  covering  formed  of  the 
chips  of  the  stones  which  had  been  hewed  for  the  Cap- 
itol. It  extended  but  a  little  way,  and  was  of  little 
value,  for  in  dry  weather  the  sharp  fragments  cut  our 
shoes,  and  in  wet  weather  covered  them  with  whit* 
mortar ;  in  short,  it  was  a  new  settlement.  The  house-, 
with  two  or  three  exceptions,  had  been  very  recently 
erected,  and  the  operation  greatly  hurried  in  view  of 
the  approaching  transfer  of  the  national  government 
A  laughable  desire  was  manifested  by  what  few  citi- 
zens and  residents  there  were,  to  render  our  condition 
as  pleasant  as  circumstances  would  permit.  Notwith- 
standing the  unfavorable  aspect  which  Washington 
presented  on  our  arrival,  I  cannot  sufficiently  express 
my  admiration  of  its  local  position.  From  the  Capitol 
you  have  a  distinct  view  of  its  fine,  undulating  surface, 
situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Potomac  and  its 
Eastern  Branch,  the  wide  expanse  of  that  majestic  river 
to  the  bend  at  Mount  Vernon,  the  cities  of  Alexandria 
and  Georgetown,  and  the  cultivated  fields  and  blue 
hills  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  the  whole  constituting  a  prospect  of  surpassing 
beauty  and  grandeur.  The  city  has  also  the  inestima- 
ble advantage  of  delightful  water,  in  manv  instances 
flowing  from  copious  spiings,  and  always  attainable  by 
digging  to  a  moderate  depth." 

"  Some  portions  of  the  city  are  forty-  miles  from 
Baltimore.  The  situation  is  indeed  beautiful  and 
pleasant. 

"  The  President's  house  was  built  to  be  looked  at  by 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  99 

visitors  and  strangers,  and  will  render  its  occupants 
an  object  of  ridicule  with  some  and  of  pity  with  others, 
It  must  be  cold  and  damp  in  winter,  and  cannot  be 
kept  in  tolerable  order  without  a  regiment  of  servants. 
There  are  but  few  houses  at  any  one  place,  and  most 
of  them  small,  miserable  huts,  which  present  an  awful 
contrast  to  the  public  buildings.  The  people  are  poor, 
and  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  live  like  fishes,  by  eating 
each  other." 

The  first  New-Years  reception  at  the  White  House 
was  held  by  President  Adams  in  1801.  The  house 
was  only  partially  furnished,  and  Mrs.  Adams  used 
the  oval  room  up  stairs,  now  the  library,  as  a  drawing- 
room.  The  formal  etiquette  established  by  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington at  New  York  and  Philadelphia  was  kept  up  in 
the  wilderness-city  by  Mrs.  Adams. 

At  this  time  the  health  of  Mrs.  Adams,  which  had 
never  been  very  firm,  began  decidedly  to  fail.  Her 
residence  at  Philadelphia  had  not  been  favorable,  as  it 
had  subjected  her  to  the  attack  of  an  intermittent 
fever,  from  the  effects  of  which  she  was  never  after- 
wards perfectly  free.  The  desire  to  enjoy  the  bracing 
air  of  her  native  climate,  as  well  as  to  keep  together 
the  private  property  of  her  husband,  upon  which  she 
early  foresaw  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  rely  for 
their  support  in  their  last  years,  prompted  her  to  reside 
much  of  her  time  at  Quincy. 

Thus  closed  Mrs.  Adams1  life  in  Washington,  which 
she  has  given  in  the  preceding  letters ;  and  spring  found 
her  once  more  in  her  Massachusetts  home,  recuperat- 
ing her  failing  health.     She  lived  in  Washington  only 


100  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

four  months — and  yet  she  is  inseparably  connected 
with  it.  She  was  mistress  of  the  White  House  less 
than  half  a  year,  but  she  stamped  it  with  her  individu- 
ality, and  none  have  lived  there  since  who  have  not 
looked  upon  her  as  the  model  and  guide.  It  is  not 
asserting  too  much,  to  observe  that  the  first  occupant 
of  that  historic  house  stands  without  a  rival,  and  re- 
ceives  a  mead  of  praise  awarded  to  no  other  American 
woman. 

In  the  midst  of  public  or  private  troubles,  the 
buoyant  spirit  of  Mrs.  Adams  never  forsook  her.  "  I 
am  a  mortal  enemy,"  she  wrote  upon  one  occasion  to 
her  husband,  "  to  anything  but  a  cheerful  countenance 
and  a  merry  heart,  which  Solomon  tells  us  does  good 
like  a  medicine."  "This  spirit  contributed  greatly  to  lift 
up  his  heart,  when  surrounded  by  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers, exposed  to  open  hostility,  and  secret  detraction, 
and  resisting  a  torrent  of  invective,  such  as  it  may 
well  be  doubted  whether  any  other  individual  in  pub- 
lic station  in  the  United  States  has  ever  tried  to  stem. 
It  was  this  spirit  which  soothed  his  wounded  feelings 
when  the  country,  which  he  had  served  in  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  the  perfect  honesty  of  his  motives,  threw 
him  off,  and  signified  its  preference  for  other  statesmen. 
There  are  oftener,  even  in  this  life,  more  compensations 
for  the  severest  of  the  troubles  that  afflict  mankind, 
than  we  are  apt  to  think.1' 

The  sacrifices  made  bv  Mrs.  Adams  durin<r  the  lone: 
era  of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  deserves  and  should 
receive  from  a  nation's  gratitude  a  monument  as  high 
and  massive  as  her  illustrious  husband's. 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  101 

Let  it  be  reared  in  the  hearts  of  the  women  of 
America,  who  may  proudly  claim  her  as  a  model,  and 
let  her  fame  be  transmitted  to  remotest  posterity — the 
"Portia"  of  the  rebellious  provinces. 

Statues  and  monuments  belong  rather  to  a  bygone 
than  a  present  time,  and  are  indicative  of  a  less  degree 
of  culture  than  we  of  this  century  boast.  The  pages 
of  history  are  the  truest,  safest  sarcophagi  of  great- 
ness,  and  embalm  in  their  records  the  lives  of  the 
master-workers.  Not  in  marble  or  bronze  be  her 
memory  perpetuated,  for  we  need  no  such  hiero- 
glyphics in  this  country  of  free  schools.  Place  her 
history  in  the  libraries  of  America,  and  the  children 
of  freedom  will  live  over  her  deeds.  To  the  crum- 
bling monarchies  of  Europe  on  their  way  to  ruin,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  erect  statues  of  past  greatness, 
that  some  shadow  of  their  nothingness  may  remain  as 
warnings:  but  the  men  and  women  of  revolutionary 
memory,  are  become  a  part  and  parcel  of  this  govern- 
ment, whose  very  existence  must  be  wiped  from  the 
face  of  the  earth  ere. one  jot  or  tittle  of  their  fame  is 
lost. 

In  viewing  the  character  of  Mrs.  Adams,  as  it 
looms  up  in  the  pages  of  the  past,  we  can  but  regret 
that  she  occupied  no  more  enlarged  sphere.  The  wo- 
man who  could  reply  as  she  did  to  the  question,  (u  Had 
you  known  that  Mr.  Adams  would  have  remained  so 
'ong  abroad,  would  you  have  consented  that  he  should 
have  gone  %  ")— could  have  filled  any  position  in  civil 
life.  "  If  I  had  known,"  she  replied,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  "  that  Mr.  Adams  could  have  effected  what 


102  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

he  has  done,  I  would  not  only  have  submitted  to  the 
absence  I  have  endured,  painful  as  it  has  been,  but  I 
would  not  have  opposed  it,  even  though  three  more 
years  should  be  added  to  the  number.  I  feel  a  pleas- 
ure in  being  able  to  sacrifice  my  selfish  passions  to  the 
general  good,  and  in  imitating  the  example  which  has 
taught  me  to  consider  myself  and  family  but  as  the 
small  dust  of  the  balance,  when  compared  with  the 
great  community.'" 

With  the  marked  characteristics  which  made  her 
determined  and  resolute,  she  could  have  occupied  any 
post  of  honor  requiring  a  strong  mind  and  clear  per- 
ceptions of  right ;  cut  ofi^  as  was  her  sex,  from  partici- 
pation in  the  struggle  around  her ;  confined  by  custom 
to  the  lonely  and  wearisome  monotony  of  her  country 
home,  she  nevertheless  stamped  her  character  upon  the 
hearts  of  her  countrymen,  and  enrolled  her  name 
among  its  workers.  Had  she  been  called  into  any  of 
the  departments  of  State,  or  required  to  fill  any  place 
of  trust,  hers  would  have  been  an  enviable  name  ;  even 
as  it  is,  she  occupies  the  foreground  of  the  Revolution- 
ary history,  and  so  powerful  were  the  energies  of  her 
soul,  that  biographers  and  historians  have  deemed  it 
worth  their  while  to  deny,  in  lengthy  terms,  her  in- 
fluence over  her  husband,  and  exert  every  argument 
to  prove  that  she  in  no  way  controlled  his  actions. 
The  opinions  of  men  differ  on  this  point,  and  the  stu- 
dents of  American  biographies  decide  the  questions 
from  their  own  stand-points.  Yet  who  will  not  ven- 
ture to  assert,  that  with  the  culture  bestowed  upon 
her  which  many  men  received,  she  would  have  towered 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  103 

high  above  them  in  their  pride  and  selfishness  ?  Cir 
cumscribed  by  the  usages  of  society,'  she  could  only 
live  in  her  imagination,  and  impress  upon  her  children 
the  great  ideas  that  were  doomed  to  fritter  away  use- 
lessly in  her  brain.  Indifferent  to  the  charms  of  fash- 
ionable life,  deprived  of  the  luxuries  which  too  often 
enervate  and  render  worthless  the  capacities  of  wo- 
man, she  was  as  independent  and  self-supporting  in  her 
actions,  as  were  the  inspirations  of  her  mind;  and 
through  good  and  evil  report,  conduced  by  her  exam- 
ple to  place  that  reliance  in  her  country's  success  which 
in  a  great  measure  secured  its  independence.  Her 
character  was  one  of  undeviatino;  fairness  and  frank 
truthfulness,  free  from  affectation  and  vanity. 

From  the  year  1801  down  to  the  day  of  her  death, 
a  period  of  seventeen  years,  she  lived  uninterruptedly 
at  Quincy.  The  old  age  of  Mrs.  Adams  was  not  one 
of  grief  and  repining,  of  clouds  and  darkness ;  her 
cheerfulness  continued  with  the  full  possession  of  her 
faculties  to  the  last,  and  her  sunny  spirit  enlivened  the 
small  social  circle  around  her,  brightened  the  solitary 
hours  of  her  husband,  and  spread  the  influence  of  its 
example  over  the  town  where  she  lived.  "  Yesterday,*' 
she  writes,  to  a  grand-daughter,  on  the  26th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1814,  "  completes  half  a  century  since  I  entered 
the  marriage  state,  then  just  your  age.  I  have  great 
cause  of  thankfulness  that  I  have  lived  so  long  and 
enjoyed  so  large  a  portion  of  happiness  as  has  been 
my  lot.  The  greatest  source  of  unhappiness  I  have 
known,  in  that  period,  has  arisen  from  the  long  and 
cruel  separations  which  I   was  called,  in  a  time  of 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

war,  and  with  a  young  family  around  me,  to  sub- 
mit to."1 

The  appointment  of  her  eldest  son  as  Minister  to 
Great  Britain,  by  President  Madison,  was  a  life-long 

faction  to  her;  and  the  testimony  President  Mon- 
roe srave  her  of  his  worth,  by  making  him  his  Secre- 
tary  of  State,  was  the  crowning  mercy  of  her  life. 
Had  she  been  spared  a  few  years  longer,  she  would 
have  enjoyed  seeing  him  hold  the  position  his  father 
had  occupied  before  him.     Mrs.  Adams  lost  three  of 

children:  a  daughter  in  infancy;  a  son  grown  to 
manhood,  who  died  in  1800;  and  in  1813  her  only  re- 
maining daughter,  Abigail,  the  wife  of  Colonel  William 
8.  Smith. 

The  warmest  feelings  of  friendship  had  existed  be- 
::  Mr.  Jefferson  and  herself  until  a  difference  in 
political  sentiments,  developed  during  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Washington,  disturbed  the  social  re- 
lations existing.  "  Both  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson 
hard  as  men  could  do,  to  resist  the  natural 
effect  upon  them  of  their  antagonist  positions.'  They 
strove  each  in  turn,  to  stem  the  prescriptive  fury  of  the 
partie  a  :  i  which  they  belonged,  and  that  with  equally 
bad  suce 

'•  lira  Adams  felt  as  women  only  feel,  what  she 

:  led  as  the  ungenerous  conduct  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to- 
wards  her  husband  during  the  latter  part  of  his  public- 
life,  and  when  she  retired  n'omWashington,notwithstand- 
in  _•  the  kindest  professions  from  his  mouth  were  yet  ring- 
ing in  her  ears,  all  communication  between  the  parties 
..  Still,  there  remained  on  both  sides,  pleasant  rem- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  105 

iuiscences  to  soften  the  irritation  that  had  taken  place 
and  to  open  a  way  for  reconciliation  whenever  circum- 
stances should  present  a  suitable  opportunity."  The 
little  daughter  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  whom  Mrs.  Adams 
had  taken  so  much  interest  in  1787,  had  iu  the  interval 
grown  into  a  woman,  and  had  been  married  to  Mr. 
Eppes  of  Virginia.  In  1804  she  ceased  to  be  numbered 
among  the  living,  and  almost  against  her  own  judg* 
ment  Mrs.  Adams  wrote  to  him.  He  seemed  to  be 
much  affected  by  this  testimony  of  her  sympathy,  and 
replied,  not  confining  himself  to  the  subject  matter  of 
her  letter,  and  added  a  request  to  know  her  reasons  for 
the  estrangement  that  had  occurred.  Without  the 
knowledge  of  her  husband  she  replied  to  him,  but  he 
at  first  did  not  choose  to  believe  her  assertion.  "  For- 
tunately, the  original  endorsement,  made  in  the  hand- 
writing of  letters  retained  by  herself,  will  serve  to  put 
this  matter  beyond  question."  Her  last  letter  to  him 
we  give  entire : 

"  Quixct,  25th  October,  1804, 

"  Sir  :  Sickness  for  three  weeks  past  has  prevented 
my  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  Sept. 
11th.  When  I  first  addressed  you,  I  little  thought  of 
entering  into  a  correspondence  wTith  you  upon  subjects 
of  a  political  nature.  I  will  not  regret  it,  as  it  has  led 
io  some  elucidations,  and  brought  on  some  explanations, 
which  place  in  a  more  favorable  light  occurrences 
which  had  wounded  me. 

Having  once  entertained  for  you  a  respect  and 
esteem,  founded  upon  the  character  of  an  affectionate 


106  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

parent,  a  kind  master,  a  candid  and  benevolent  friend, 
I  could  not  suffer  different  political  opinions  to  obliter- 
ate them  from  mv  mind.  I  felt  the  truth  of  the  ob- 
serration,  that  the  heart  is  lon^r,  verv  Ions:  in  receiving 

O'  or  CJ  ks 

the  conviction  that  is  forced  upon  it  by  reason.  It 
was  not  until  circumstances  occurred  to  place  you  in 
the  light  of  a  rewarder  and  encoura^er  of  a  libeler. 
whom  you  could  not  but  detest  and  despise,  that  ] 
withdrew  the  esteem  I  had  lon^  entertained  for  vou. 
Xor  can  you  wonder.  Sir,  that  I  should  consider  as  a 
personal  unkindness,  the  instance  I  have  mentioned. 
I  am  pleased  to  find  that  which  respected  my  son  al- 
together unfounded.  He  was.  as  you  conjecture,  ap- 
pointed a  commissioner  of  bankruptcy,  together  with 
Judge  Dawes,  and  continued  to  serve  in  it  with  perfect 
satisfaction  to  all  parties  (at  least  I  never  heard  the 
contrary),  until  supei  I  by  the  appointment  of  oth- 
ers. The  id;;,  suggested  that  no  one  was  in  office,  and 
consequently  no  removal  could  take  place,  I  cannot 
consider  in  any  other  light  than  what  the  centlemen 
of  the  law  would  term  a  quibble — as  such  I  pass  it. 
Judge  Dawes  was  continued  or  re-appointea,  which 
placed  Mr,  Adams  in  a  more  conspicuous  light  as  the 
object  of  personal  resentment.  Xor  could  I,  upon  this 
occasion,  refrain  calling  to  mind  the  last  visit  you  made 
me  at  Washington,  when  in  the  course  of  conversation 
you  assured  me,  that  if  it  should  lay  ia  your  power  at 
any  time  to  serve  me  or  my  family,  nothing  would  give 
you  more  pleasure.  "With  respect  to  the  office,  it  was 
a  small  object,  but  the  disposition  of  the  remover  was 
considered  by  me  as  the  barbed  arrow.     This,  how 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  107 

ever,  by  your  declaration,  is  withdrawn  from  my  mind. 
With  the  public  it  will  remain.  And  here,  Sir,  may  1 
be  allowed  to  pause,  and  ask  whether,  in  your  ardent 
desire  to  rectify  the  mistakes  and  abuses,  as  you  may 
term  them,  of  the  former  administrations,  you  may  not 
be  led  into  measures  still  more  fatal  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  more  derogatory  to  your  honor  and  inde- 
pendence of  character  ?  I  know,  from  the  observa- 
tions which  I  have  made,  that  there  is  not  a  more  diffi- 
cult part  devolves  upon  a  chief  magistrate,  nor  one 
which  subjects  him  to  more  reproach  and  censure,  than 
the  appointments  to  office.  And  all  the  patronage 
which  this  enviable  power  gives  him  is  but  a  poor 
compensation  for  the  responsibility  to  which  it  subjects 
him.  It  would  be  well,  however,  to  weigh  and  con- 
sider characters,  as  it  respects  their  moral  worth  and 
integrity.  He  who  is  not  true  to  himself,  nor  just  to 
others,  seeks  an  office  for  the  benefit  of  himself,  un- 
mindful of  that  of  his  country.  I  cannot  accord  with 
you  in  opinion  that  the  Constitution  ever  meant  to 
withhold  from  the  National  Government  the  power  of 
self  defence ;  or  that  it  could  be  considered  an  in- 
fringement of  the  liberty  of  the  press,  to  punish  the 
licentiousness  of  it.  Time  must  determine,  and  pos- 
terity will  judge  with  more  candor  and  impartiality,  I 
hope,  than  the  conflicting  parties  of  our  day,  what 
measures  have  be3t  promoted  the  happiness  of  the 
people  ;  and  what  raised  them  from  a  state  of  depres- 
sion and  degradation  to  wealth,  honor  and  reputation ; 
what  has  made  them  affluent  at  home  and  respected 
nbroad  ;   and  to  whomsoever  the  tribute  is   due,  to 


108  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

them  ma,j  it  be  given.  I  will  not  further  intrude  upon 
your  time  ;  but  close  this  correspondence  by  my  wishes 
that  you  may  be  directed  to  that  path  which  may  ter- 
minate in  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people 
over  whom  you  are  placed,  by  administering  the  gov- 
ernment with  justice  and  impartiality ;  and  be  assured, 
Sir,  no  one  will  more  rejoice  in  your  success  than 

Abigail  Adams. 

memorandum 
subjoined  to  the  copy    of   this  letter,  in  the  hand- 
writing; of  Mr.  Adams. 

Qcixct,  19th  November,  ]S04. 

The  whole  of  this  correspondence  was  begun  and 
conducted  without  my  knowledge  or  suspicion.  Last 
evening  and  this  morning,  at  the  desire  of  Mrs.  Adams 
I  read  the  whole.  I  have  no  remarks  to  make  upon  it, 
at  this  time  and  in  this  place. 

J.  Adams. 

"  A  new  and  strong  tie  was  besfinnins:  indeed  to  bind 
the  stately  old  men  together.  They  were  speedily  be- 
coming the  last  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence — the  last  of  the  great  actors  and  leaders 
of  1776.  Their  common  and  dearly-loved  friend 
Rush  had  died  in  April,  1813,  after  a  brief  illness." 
Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  of  this  occurrence, 
and  said :  "  Another  of  our  friends  of  seventy-six  is 
gone,  my  dear  sir,  another  of  the  co-signers  of  the  in- 
dependence of  our  country.  I  believe  we  are  under 
half  a  dozen  at  present ;    I  mean  the  signers  of  the 


LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  109 

Declaration.     Yourself,  Gerry,  Carroll  and  myself,  are 
all  I  know  to  be  living." 

Appended  to  a  letter  from  Adams  to  Jefferson, 
dated  July  15th,  1813,  we  find  the  following: 

"  I  have  been  looking  for  some  time  for  a  space  in 
my  good  husband's  letters  to  add  the  regards  of  an  old 
Mend,  which  are  still  cherished  and  preserved  through 
all  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  which  have  taken  place 
since  we  first  became  acquainted,  and  will,  I  trust,  re- 
main as  long  as 

"  A.  Adams." 

"  Mrs.  Adams,  like  her  husband,  never  again  met 
Mr.  Jefferson,  but  she  had  the  opportunity,  and  eagerly 
availed  herself  of  it,  to  bestow  kindly  and  assiduous 
attentions  on  some  of  his  family." 

"She  lost  none  of  the  imposing  features  of  her 
character  in  the  decline  of  life.  An  observing  and 
intelligent  gentleman  who  was  a  guest  at  Quincy 
within  a  year  or  two  of  her  death,  has  given  us  a  de- 
scription of  his  visit.  Mr.  Adams  shook  as  if  palsied ; 
but  the  mind  and  the  heart  were  evidently  sound. 
His  spirits  seemed  as  elastic  as  a  boy's.  He  joked, 
laughed  heartily,  and  talked  about  everybody  and  ev- 
erything, past  and  present,  wTith  the  most  complete 
abandon.  He  seemed  to  our  highly  educated  inform- 
ant to  be  a  vast  encyclopedia  of  written  and  unwritten 
knowledge.  It  gushed  out  on  every  possible  topic, 
but  was  mingled  with  lively  anecdotes  and  sallies,  and 
he  exhibited  a  carelessness  in  his  language  which  sug- 
gested anything  but  pedantry  or  an  attempt  at  '  fine 


110  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

talking.'  In  snort,  the  brave  old  man  was  as  delight* 
ful  as  he  was  commanding-  in  conversation.  While  the 
guest  was  deeply  enjoying  this  interview,  an  aged  and 
stately  female  entered  the  apartment,  and  he  was 
introduced  to  Mrs.  Adams.  A  cap  of  exquisite  lace 
surrounded  features  still  exhibiting  intellect  and  ener- 
gy,  though  they  did  not  wear  the  appearance  of  ever 
having  been  beautiful.  Her  dress  was  snowy  white, 
and  there  was  that  immaculate  neatness  in  her  appear- 
ance which  gives  to  age  almost  the  sweetness  of  youth. 
With  less  warmth  of  manner  and  sociableness  than 
Mr.  Adams,  she  was  sufficiently  gracious,  and  her  oc- 
casional remarks  betrayed  intellectual  vigor  and  strong 
sense.  The  guest  went  away,  feeling  that  he  never 
again  should  behold  such  living  specimens  of  the 
11  great  of  old.:' 

Mr.  .Randall,  in  his  life  of  Jefferson,  speaks  of 
Mrs.  Adams  in  connection  with  her  letters  thus : 

l'  We  must  not  judge  too  harshly  of  Mrs.  Adams, 
or  pronounce  her  destitute  of  womanly  amiability.  Her 
lofty  lineaments  carried  a  trace  of  the  Puritan  severity. 
They  were  those  of  the  helmed  Minerva,  and  not  of 
the  cestus-girdled  Venus.  Her  correspondence  uni- 
formly exhibits  a  didactic  personage — a  little  inclined 
to  assume  a  sermonizing  attitude,  as  befitted  the  well- 
trained  and  self  reliant  daughter  of  a  Xew  England 
country  clergyman — and  a  little  inclined,  after  the 
custom  of  her  people,  to  return  thanks  that  she  had 
not  lot  or  part  in  anything  that  was  not  of  Massachu- 
setts. Perhaps  the  masculineness  of  her  understanding 
extended   somewhat  to  the  firmness  of  her   temper 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  Ill 

But  towering  above  and  obscuring  these  minor  angu 
larities,  she  possessed  a  strength  of  intellectual  and 
moral  character,  which  commands  our  unqualified  ad- 
miration. Her  decision  would  have  manifested  itself 
for  her  friend  or  her  cause,  when  softer  spirits  would 
Lave  shrunk  away,  or  been  paralyzed  with  terror. 
When  her  New-England  frigidness  gave  way  and  kin- 

O  CD  CD  */ 

died  into  enthusiasm,  it  was  not  the  burning  straw. 
but  the  red  hot  steel.  On  the  stranding  deck,  at  the 
gibbet's  foot,  in  any  other  deadly  pass  where  undaunted 
moral  courage  can  light  up  the  coming  gloom  of  '  the 
valley  and  shadow  of  death,'  Mrs.  Adams  would  have 
stood  by  the  side  of  those  she  loved,  uttering  words  of 
encouragement ;  and  in  that  more  desperate  pass  where 
death  or  overthrow  are  balanced  against  dishonor,  she 
would  have  firmly  bade  the  most  loved  friend  on  earth 
embrace  the  former  like  a  bride." 

Mrs.  Adams  died  of  an  attack  of  fever,  the  28th  of 
October,  1818,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
characters  of  her  time.  "To  learning,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  that  term,  Mrs.  Adams  could  make  no  claim. 
Her  reading  had  been  extensive  in  the  lighter  depart- 
ments of  literature,  and  she  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  poets  in  her  own  language,  but  it  went  no  further. 
It  is  the  soul,  shining  through  the  words,  that  gives 
them  their  great  attraction ;  the  spirit  ever  equal  to 
the  occasion,  whether  a  great  or  a  small  one ;  a  spirit, 
inquisitive  and  earnest  in  the  little  details  of  life,  as 
when  she  was  in  France  and  England ;  playful,  when 
she  describes  daily  duties,  but  rising  to  the  call  when 


112  LADIES    OF    TEE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  roar  of  cannon  is  in  her  ears — or  when  she  reproves 
her  husband  for  not  knowing  her  better  than  to  think 
her  a  coward  and  to  fear  telling  her  bad  n: 

••  The  obsequies  of  Mrs.  Adams  were  attended  by  a 
great  concourse  of  people  who  voluntarily  came  to  pay 
this  last  tribute  to  her  memory.  Several  brief  but 
beautiful  notices  of  her  appeared  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  day,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  by  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Kirkland,  then  President  of  Harvard  Uni 

ity,  which  closed  with  a  delicate  and  affectinsr 
testimony  to  her  worth.  '  Ye  will  seek  to  moum,  be- 
reaved friends/  it  says,  'as  becomes  Christians,  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  the  person  you  lament.  You  do 
then  the  Giver  of  Life   that  the  course  of  your 

endeared  and  honored  friend  was  so  long  and  so 
bright ;  that  she  endeared  so  fully  into  the  spirit  of  those 
injunctions  which  Ave  have  explained,  and  was  a  min- 
ister of  blessings  to  all  within  her  influence.  You  are 
soothed  to  reflect  that  she  was  sensible  of  the  many 
tokens  of  divine  goodness  which  marked  her  lot;  that 
she  received  the  good  of  her  existence  with  a  cheerful 
and  grateful  heart:  that,  when  called  to  weep,  she 
bore  adversity  with  an  equal  mind ;  that  she  used  the 
world  as  not  abusing  it  to  excess,  improving  well  her 
time,  talents,  and  opportunities,  and  though  desired 
longer  in  this  world,  was  fitted  for  a  better  happiness 
than  this  world  can  give.*  ? 

Soon  as  the  news  of  Mrs.  Adams'  death  reached 
Mbntacello,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  as  follows  : — 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  113 


To  John  Adams. 

"  Moxticello,  November  13th,  1818. 

"  The  public  papers,  my  dear  friend,  announce  the 
fatal  event  of  which  your  letter  of  October  the  20th 
had  given  me  ominous  foreboding.  Tried  myself  in 
the  school  of  affliction,  by  the  loss  of  every  form  of 
connection  which  can  rive  the  human  heart,  I  know 
well,  and  feel  what  you  have  lost,  what  you  have  suf- 
fered, are  suffering,  and  have  yet  to  endure.  The  same 
trials  have  taught  me  that  for  ills  so  immeasurable,  time 
and  silence  are  the  only  medicine.  I  will  not,  there- 
fore, by  useless  condolences,  open  afresh  the  sluices  of 
your  grief,  nor,  although  mingling  sincerely  my  tears 
with  youra,  will  I  say  a  word  more  where  words  are 
vain,  but  that  it  is  of  some  comfort  to  us  both  that  the 
time  is  not  very  distant  at  which  we  are  to  deposit  in 
the  same  casement  our  sorrows  and  suffering  bodies, 
and  to  ascend  in  essence  to  an  ecstatic  meeting  with 
the  friends  we  have  loved  and  lost,  and  whom  we  shall 
still  love  and  never  lose  again.  God  bless  you,  and 
support  you  under  your  heavy  affliction. 

"  Th.  Jefferson." 

Side  by  side  in  the  Congregational  church  in  Quin- 
cy,  to  which  he  had  given  the  donation  to  erect  it  with, 
lie  the  mortal  remains  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams. 
"Within  the  same  house,  a  plain,  white  marble  slab,  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  pulpit,  surmounted  by  his  bust, 
bears  the  following  inscription  written  by  his  eldest 
>on : —  o 


114  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Libertatem.  Amicitiam.  Fideni  Eetinebis. 

D.  O.  M. 

Beneath  these  walla, 

Are  deposited  the  mortal  remains  of 

JOETC  ADAMS. 

Son  of  John  and  Susanna  (Boylston)  Adams, 

Second  President  of  the  United  States, 

Born  £§  October,  1735. 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  1776, 

He  pledged  his  life,  fortune,  and  sacred  honour, 

To  the  Independence  of  his  country. 

On  the  third  of  September,  1783, 

He  atfixed  his  seal  to  the  definitive  treaty  with  Great  Britaia, 

"Which  acknowledged  that  independence, 

And  consummated  the  redemption  of  his  pledge. 

On  the  fonrth  of  July,  1826, 

He  was  summoned 

To  the  Independence  of  Immortality 

And  to  the  judgment  of  his  God. 

This  house  will  bear  witness  to  his  piety ; 

This  Town,  his  birth-place,  to  his  munificence ; 

History  to  his  patriotism ; 

Posterity  to  the  depth  and  compass  of  his  mind. 

At  his  side, 

Sleeps,  till  the  trump  shall  sound, 

ABIGAIL 

His  beloved  and  only  wife, 

Daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth,  (Quincy)  Smith. 

In  every  relation  of  life  a  pattern 

of  filial,  conjugal,  maternal,  and  social  virtue. 

Born  Xovember  R,  1744 

Deceased  28  October,  1818, 

Aged  74. 

Married  25  October,  1764. 

During  an  union  of  more  than  half  a  century 

They  survived,  in  harmony  of  sentiment,  principle  and  affection, 

The  tempests  of  civil  commotion. 

Meeting  undaunted  and  surmounting 

The  terrors  and  trials  of  that  revolution, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  115 

Which  secured  the  freedom  of  their  country  ; 

Improved  the  condition  of  their  times ; 

And  brightened  the  prospects  of  futurity 

To  the  race  of  man  upon  earth. 
Pilgrim ! 
From  lives  thus  spent  thy  earthly  duties  learn : 
From  fancy's  dreams  to  active  virtue  turn : 
Let  freedom,  friendship,  faith,  thy  soul  engage, 
And  serve,  like  them,  thy  country  and  thy  age. 


116  LADIES  OF    THE    WHITE    H0CJ5E. 


MARTHA  JEFFERSON  RANDOLPH. 

lies.  Jefferson  had  been  dead  nineteen  years  when, 
in  1S01.  President  Jefferson  took  possession  of  the 
White  House,  and  there  was  strictly  speaking  no  lady 
of  the  mansion  during:  his  term.  His  daughters  were 
with  him  in  Washington  only  twice  during  his  eight 
years1  stay,  and  he  held  no  formal  receptions  as  are 
customary  now ;  and  being  of  the  French  school  of 
democratic  politics,  professed  a  dislike  of  all  cere- 
monious visitors. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January.  1772.  Mr.  Jefferson 
was    married    to    Mrs.    Martha  Skelton.    widow    of 
Batkurst  Skelton,  and  daughter  of  John  Wayles, 
''the  Forest,v  in  Charles  City  County. 

Mr.  Los  sing,  in  his  very  interesting  book  of  the 
Revolution,  gives  a  fac-simile  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  mar- 
riage license  bond,  drawn  up  in  his  own  handwriting, 
which  the  former  found  in  a  bundle  of  old  papers  in 
Charles  City  Court  House  while  searching  for  records 
of  Revolution  events.  "  Mrs.  Skelton  was  remarkable 
for  her  beauty,  her  accomplishments,  and  her  solid 
merit.  In  person  she  was  a  little  above  medium 
height,  slightly  but  exquisitely  formed.  Her  com- 
plexion was  brilliant — her  large  expressive  eyes  of  the 
richest  tinge  of  auburn.  She  walked,  rode,  and  danced 
with  admirable  grace  and  spirits — sang  and  played  the 
spinet  and  harpsichord  [the  musical  instruments  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE.  117 

the  Virginia  ladies  of  that  day]  with  uncommon  skill 
The  more  solid  parts  of  her  education  had  not  been 
neglected."  She  was  also  well  read  and  intelligent 
conversed  agreeably,  possessed  excellent  sense  and  a 
lively  play  of  fancy,  and  had  a  frank,  warm-hearted 
and  somewhat  impulsive  disposition.  She  was  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  second  marriage, 
and  had  been  a  widow  four  years.  Her  only  child  she 
lost  in  infancy. 

Tradition,  says  Randall,  has  preserved  one  anecdote 
of  the  wooers  who  sought  her  hand.  It  has  two  render- 
ings,  and  the  reader  may  choose  between  them.  The 
first  is  that  two  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  rivals  happened  to  meet 
on  Mrs.  Skelton's  doorstone.  They  were  shown  into  a 
room  from  which  they  heard  her  harpsichord  and  voice, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  violin  and  voice,  in  the 
passages  of  a  touching  song.  They  listened  for  a  stanza 
or  two.  Whether  something  in  the  words,  or  in  the  tones 
of  the  singers  appeared  suggestive  to  them,  tradition 
does  not  say,  but  it  does  aver  that  they  took  their  hats 
and  retired  to  return  no  more  on  the  same  errand !  The 
other,  and,  we  think,  less  probable  version  of  the  story 
is,  that  the  three  met  on  the  door-stone,  and  agreed 
that  they  would  "  take  turns "  and  that  the  inter- 
views should  be  made  decisive ;  and  that  by  lot  or 
otherwise  Mr.  Jefferson  led  off,  and  that  then  during 
his  trial  they  heard  the  music  that  they  concluded 
settled  the  point.  After  the  Bridal  festivities  at  the 
Forest,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jefferson  set  out  for  Monticello. 
and  they  were  destined  to  meet  some  not  exactly 
amusing  adventures  by  the  way.     A  manuscript  of 


118  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

their  eldest  daughter  [Mrs.  Kandolph]  furnished  Mr. 
Randall  by  one  of  her  grand  daughters  and  published 
in  his  "Life  of  Jefferson  "—says :  "They  left  the  forest 
after  a  fall  of  snow,  light  then,  but  increasing  in  depth 
as  they  advanced  up  the  country.  They  were  finally 
obliged  to  quit  the  carriage  and  proceed  on  horse- 
back. Having  stopped  for  a  short  time  at  Blenheim 
(the  residence  of  Colonel  Carter)  where  an  overseer 
only  resided,  they  left  it  at  sunset  to  pursue  their  way 
through  a  mountain  track  rather  than  a  road,  in 
which  the  snow  lay  from  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet 
deep,  having  eight  miles  to  go  before  reaching  Mon- 
ticello. 

"  They  arrived  late  at  night,  the  fires  all  out  and 
the  servants  retired  to  their  own  houses  for  the  night. 
The  horrible  dreariness  of  such  a  house,  at  the  end  of 
such  a  journey,  I  have  often  heard  them  both  relate." 
"  Part  of  a  bottle  of  wine,  found  on  a  shelf  behind 
some  books,  had  to  serve  the  new-married  couple  both 
for  fire  and  supper.  Tempers  too  sunny  to  be  ruined 
by  many  ten  times  as  serious  annoyances  in  after  life, 
now  found  but  sources  of  diversion  in  these  ludicrous 
contre-temps  and  the  "  horrible  dreariness  was  lit  up 
with  songs,  and  merriment  and  laughter." 

Nine  years  afterward,  Mrs.  Jefferson,  the  mother 
of  five  children,  was  slowly  declining,  and  her  husband, 
refusing  a  mission  to  Europe  on  that  account,  deter- 
mined to  give  up  all  other  duties  to  soothe  and  sustain 
her.  She  had  born  her  fifth  child  in  November,  and 
when  it  was  two  months  old,  she  had  fled  with  it  in 
her   arms   as  Arnold  approached   Richmond.     "  The 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  119 

British  General  Tarleton  sent  troops  to  capture  Gov- 
ernor Jefferson,  who  was  occupied  in  securing  his  most 
important  papers.  While  thus  engaged,  his  wife  and 
children  were  sent  in  a  carriage,  under  the  care  of  a 
young  gentleman  who  was  studying  with  him,  to  Colo- 
nel Coles,  fourteen  miles  distant.  Monticello  was  cap- 
tured (if  a  residence  occupied  by  unresisting  servants 
may  be  said  to  be  captured),  and  the  house  searched, 
though  not  sacked  by  the  enemy.  Many  of  the  ne- 
groes were  taken,  and  but  five  ever  returned,  while 
many  of  those  left  behind  sank  under  the  epidemics 
raging  at  the  time.  The  house  was  robbed  of  nothing 
save  a  few  articles  in  the  cellar,  the  farm  was  stripped 
of  valuable  horses,  and  many  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  grain  and  tobacco. 

"  Two  faithful  slaves,  Martin  and  Caesar,  were  left 
in  the  house  and  were  engaged  in  secreting  plate  and 
other  valuables  under  the  floor  of  the  front  portico, 
when  McLeod's  party  arrived.  The  floor  was  then  of 
planks.  One  of  these  was  raised,  and  Martin  stood 
above  handing  down  articles  to  Caesar  in  the  cavity. 
As  about  the  last  piece  went  in,  Martin  either  heard 
the  clang  of  hoofs,  or  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  white 
coats  through  the  trees,  and  down  went  the  plank 
shutting  Csesar  into  the  dark  hole  below.  And  here 
he  remained  eighteen  hours  without  light  or  food.  He 
was  a  powerful,  determined  fellow,  six  year3  younger 
than  his  master,  and  having  been  brought  up  with 
him,  was  sufficiently  attached  to  him  to  have  endured 
fast  and  darkness  for  another  eighteen  hours,  rather 
than  make  apparent  the  cause  of  his  concealment/ 


120  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

In  April,  the  loss  of  her  infant,  together  with  constant 
auxiety  for  the  safety  of  her  husband,  shattered  the 
remaining  strength  of  Mrs.  Jefferson.  Toward  the 
close  of  1Y81,  she  rallied.  Her  last  child  was  born 
the  8th  of  May,  1782.  Greater  apprehensions  than 
usual  had  preceded  the  event  and  they  were  fatally 
verified.  The  delicate  constitution  was  irrevocably 
sapped.  "  A  momentary  hope  for  her  might  sometimes 
flutter  in  the  bosom  of  her  lonely  husband,  but  it  was 
in  reality  a  hope  against  hope,  and  he  knew  it  to  be 
so.  That  association  which  had  been  the  first  joy  of 
his  life,  which  blent  itself  with  all  his  future  visions 
of  happiness,  which  was  to  be  the  crowning  glory  of 
that  delightful  retreat  he  was  forming,  and  which  was 
to  shed  mellow  radiance  over  the  retirement  to  which 
he  was  fondly  looking  forward,  was  now  to  end ;  and 
it  was  only  a  question  of  weeks,  or,  possibly,  months, 
how  soon  it  would  end.  Mrs.  Jefferson  had  returned 
her  husband's  affection,  with  not  only  the  fervor  of  a 
woman  whose  dream  of  love  and  pride  (for  what  wo- 
man is  not  proud  of  the  world's  estimation  of  her  hus- 
band?) had  been  more  than  gratified,  but  with  the 
idolatrous  gratitude  of  a  wife  who  knew  how  often 
that  husband  had  cast  away  the  most  tempting  honors 
without  a  sigh,  when  her  own  feeble  health  had  solic- 
ited his  presence  and  attentions.  And  now,  as  the 
dreadful  hour  of  parting  approached,  her  affection  be- 
came painfully,  almost  wildly  absorbing.  The  faith- 
ful daughter  of  the  church  had  no  dread  of  the  here- 
after, but  she  yearned  to  remain  with  her  husband 
with  that  yearning  which  seems  to  have  power  to  re- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  12] 

tard  even  the  approaches  of  death.  Her  eyes  ever 
rested  on  him,  ever  followed  him.  "When  he  spoke, 
no  other  sound  could  reach  her  ear  or  attract  her  at- 
tention. When  she  waked  from  slumber,  she  looked 
momentarily  alarmed  and  distressed,  and  ever  ap- 
peared to  be  frightened,  if  the  customary  form  was  not 
bending  over  her,  the  customary  look  upon  her.  For 
weeks  Mr.  Jefferson  sat  at  that  bedside,  only  catching 
brief  intervals  of  rest."  She  died  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember. Her  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Eandolph,  thus, 
many  years  afterward,  recorded  her  recollections  of  the 
sad  scene :  "  He  nursed  my  poor  mother  in  turn  with 
Aunt  Carr  and  her  own  sister,  sitting  up  with  her  and 
adminis-terin":  her  medicines  and  drink  to  the  last. 
For  four  months  that  she  lingered,  he  was  never  out 
of  calling;  when  not  at  her  bedside  he  was  writing  in 
a  small  room  which  opened  immediately  at  the  head 
of  her  bed.  A  moment  before  the  closing  scene,  he 
was  led  from  the  room  almost  in  a  state  of  insensibility 
by  his  sister,  Mrs.  Carr,  who,  with  great  difficulty,  got 
him  into  his  library,  where  he  fainted,  and  remained 
so  long  insensible  that  they  feared  he  never  would  re- 
vive. The  scene  that  followed  I  did  not  witness,  but 
the  violence  of  his  emotion,  when  almost  by  stealth  I 
entered  his  room  at  night,  to  this  day  I  dare  not  trust 
myself  to  describe.  He  kept  his  room  three  weeks 
and  I  was  never  a  moment  from  his  side.  He  walked 
almost  incessantly  night  and  day,  only  lying  down  oc- 
casionally, when  nature  was  completely  exhausted,  on 
a,  pallet  that  had  been  brought  in  during  his  long  faint- 
ing fit.     My  aunts  remained  constantly  -  with  him  for 


122  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

some  weeks,  I  do  not  remember  how  many.  When  at 
last  he  left  his  room,  he  rode  out,  and  from  that  time 
he  was  incessantly  on  horseback,  rambling  about  the 
mountain,  in  the  least  frequented  roads,  and  just  as 
often  through  the  woods.  In  those  melancholy  ram- 
bles. I  was  his  constant  companion,  a  solitary  witness 
to  many  a  violent  burst  of  grief,  the  remembrance  of 
which  has  consecrated  particular  stones  of  that  lost 
home  beyond  the  power  of  time  to  obliterate." 

The  propriety  of  dwelling  upon  one  who  had  been 
dead  nineteen  years,  and  whose  body  had  crumbled  to 
dust  and  sprung  to  life  again  in  forest  leaves  and  flow- 
ers, may  be  questioned  ;  but  when  we  consider  that 
Mis.  Jefferson  would  have  held  the  position  of  Ladv 
of  the  AVhite  House  had  she  lived,  and  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  her  two  daughters  can  best  be  gathered  by  a 
perusal  of  her  life,  this  short  memoir  is  deemed  not 
only  admissible  but  proper.  It  was  her  fate  to  die 
young,  and  be  denied  the  honors  that  later  in  life 
crowned  the  brow  of  her  gifted  husband.  Had  she 
survived,  no  more  pleasant  life  could  have  been  traced 
than  this  gentle,  cultivated  southerner's.  Hers  was  no 
passive  nature,  swayed  by  every  passing  breeze,  but  a 
loving,  strong  heart,  a  rare  and  gifted  intellect,  culti- 
vated by  solid  educational  advantages,  experience,  and 
the  societv  of  the  greatest  statesman  and  scholar  of 
his  day.  In  the  midst  of  all  happiness,  vouchsafed  to 
humanity,  she  died ;  and  with  sincere  respect  and  ad- 
miration for  the  talents  she  possessed,  and  ihe  strength 
of  character  she  discovered,  we  honor  her  sex  by  por- 
traying her  life. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  123 

Martha  Jefferson,  after  the  death  of  her  mother 
was  placed  at  school  in  Philadelphia  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years,  where  she  remained  until  her  father  took 
her,  in  1784,  to  Europe.  uHis  other  two  daughters, 
being  too  young  for  such  a  journey,  were  left  with 
their  maternal  aunt,  Mrs.  Eppes,  wife  of  Francis  Eppes, 
Esquire,  of  Eppington,  Chesterfield  County,  Virginia. 
Mary,  the  second  of  his  surviving  children,  was  six 
years  old,  and  Lucy  Elizabeth,  the  third,  was  twro 
years  old.  The  latter  died  before  the  close  of  1784. 
The  child  of  sorrow  and  misfortune,  her  organization 
was  too  frail  and  too  intensely  susceptible  to  last  long. 
Her  sensibilities  were  so  precociously  acute,  that  she 
listened  with  exquisite  pleasure  to  music,  and  wept  on 
hearing  a  false  note. 

After  a  short  period  of  sight-seeing,  Martha  Jeffer- 
son wasplaced  at  a  convent,  and  continuedto  reside  there 
during  her  father's  stay  in  Europe.  In  July,  1787, 
"  the  long-expected  Mary  (called  Marie  in  France,  and 
thenceforth  through  life,  Marie)  reached  London." 
She  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  simply  a  servant 
girl,  though  doubtless  they  wrere  both  intrusted  to  the 
charge  of  some  passenger  friend,  or  some  known  and 
trusted  ship  commander,  whom  we  do  not  find  named. 
They  were  received  by  Mrs.  Adams,  and  awaited  an 
expected  opportunity  of  crossing  the  Channel  with  a 
party  of  French  friends  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  These  con- 
tinued to  defer  their  return,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  became 
too  impatient  to  await  their  movements.  Accordingly, 
his  steward,  the  favorite  and  trusty  Petit,  wras  sent  to 
London  after  Marie,  and  she  reached  her  father's  hotel 


124  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

in  Paris  on  the  29th  of  July,  just  three  days  before 
her  ninth  birthday. 

Mrs.  Adams  thus  describes  her  little  guest,  imme- 
diately after  her  departure,  in  a  letter  to  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Cranch,  of  Massachusetts: 

UI  have  had  with  me  for  a  fortnight  a  little  dau£h 
ter  of  Mr.  Jefferson's,  who  arrived  here  with  a  youDg 
negro  girl,  her  servant,  from  Virginia.  Mr.  Jefferson 
wrote  me  some  months  ago  that  he  expected  them,  and 
desired  me  to  receive  them.  I  did  so,  and  was  amply 
rewarded  for  my  trouble.  A  finer  child  of  her  asre  I 
never  saw.  So  mature  an  understanding,  so  womanly 
a  behavior,  and  so  much  sensibility,  united,  are  rarely 
to  be  met  with.  I  grew  so  fond  of  her,  and  she  was 
so  attached  to  me,  that  when  Mr.  Jefferson  sent  for 
her,  they  were  obliged  to  force  the  little  creature  away. 
She  is  but  eight  years  old.  She  would  sit,  sometimes, 
and  describe  to  me  the  parting  with  her  aunt,  who 
brought  her  up,  *  the  obligations  she  was  under  to  her, 
and  the  love  she  had  for  her  little  cousins,  till  the 
•  tears  would  stream  down  her  cheeks ;  and  how  I  had 
been  her  friend,  and  she  loved  me.  Her  papa  would 
break  her  heart  bv  making  her  ero  acjain.  She  clunsr 
lound  me  so  that  I  could  not  help  shedding  a  tear  at 
parting  with  her.  She  was  the  favorite  of  every  one 
in  the  house.  I  regret  that  such  fine  spirits  must  be 
spent  in  the  walls  of  a  convent.  She  is  a  beautiful 
girl,  too.1'  f 

Marie,  (for  so  we  shall  henceforth  call  her,  unless 

*  Mrs.  Francis  Eppes,  of  Eppiogton,  Va. 
t  Mrs.  Adams'  Letter--,  vol.  ii..  p.  179. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  125 

when  adopting  her  fathers  sobriquet  of  Polly)  waa 
soon  placed  with  Martha  in  the  school  of  the  Ab- 
baye  de  Panthemont.  Martha  had  now  grown  into 
a  tall,  graceful  girl,  with  that  calm,  sweet  face 
stamped  with  thought  and  earnestness,  which,  with 
the  traces  of  many  more  years  on  it,  and  the  noble 
dignity  of  the  matron  superadded,  beams  down  from 
the  speaking  canvass  of  Sully.  The  most  dutiful  of 
daughters,  the  most  attentive  of  learners,  possessing 
a  solid  understanding,  a  judgment  ripe  beyond  her 
years,  a  most  gentle  and  genial  temper,  and  an  unas- 
suming modesty  of  demeanor  which  neither  the  dis- 
tinction of  her  position,  nor  the  flatteries  that  after- 
ward surrounded  her,  ever  wore  off  in  the  least  degree, 
she  was  the  idol  of  her  father  and  family,  and  the  de- 
light of  all  who  knew  her. 

The  little  Marie  has  been  sufficiently  described  by 
Mrs.  Adams.  "  Slighter  in  person  than  her  sister,  she 
already  gave  indications  of  a  superior  beauty.  It  was 
that  exquisite  beauty  possessed  by  her  mother — that 
beauty  which  the  experienced  learn  to  look  upon  with 
dread,  because  it  betrays  a  physical  organization  too 
delicately  fine  to  withstand  the  rough  shocks  of  the 
world/' 

"In  April,  an  incideut  of  an  interesting  character 
occurred  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  family.  His  oldest  daugh- 
ter, as  has  been  seen,  had  been  educated  in  the  views 
and  feelings  of  the  Church  of  England.  Her  mother 
had  zealously  moulded  her  young  mind  in  that  direc- 
tion. Her  father  had  done  nothing  certainly,  by  word 
or  act  to  divert  it  from  that  channel ;  and  it  had  flowed 


126  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

on,  for  aught  Martha  knew  or  suspected  to  the  con- 
trary,  with  his  full  approbation.  If  she  had  then  been 
called  upon  to  state  what  were  her  father's  religious 
beliefs,  she  would  have  declared  that  her  impressions 
were  that  he  leaned  to  the  tenets  of  the  church  to 
which  his  family  belonged.  The  daring  and  flippant 
infidelity  now  rife  in  French  society,  disgusted  the 
earnest,  serious,  naturally  reverential  girl.  The  calm 
seclusion  of  Panthemont,  its  examples  of  serene  and 
holy  life,  its  intellectual  associations,  wooed  her  away 
from  the  turmoil  and  glare  and  wickedness  and  erup- 
tions without.  After  meditating  on  the  subject  for  a 
time,  she  wrote  to  her  father  for  his  permission  to  re- 
main in  a  convent,  and  to  dedicate  herself  to  the  duties 
of  a  religious  life. 

For  a  day  or  two  she  received  no  answer.  Then 
his  carriage  rolled  up  to  the  door  of  the  Abbaye,  and 
poor  Martha  met  her  father  in  a  fever  of  doubts  and 
fears.  Never  was  his  smile  more  benignant  and  gen- 
tle. He  had  a  private  interview  with  the  Abbess. 
He  then  told  his  daughters  he  had  come  for  them. 
They  stepped  into  his  carriage,  it  rolled  away,  and 
Marthas  school  life  was  ended."  Henceforth  she  was 
introduced  into  society,  and  presided,  so  far  as  was  ap- 
propriate to  her  age,  as  the  mistress  of  her  fathers 
household.  *  *  *■  Neither  he  nor  Martha  ever, 
after  her  first  letter  on  the  subject,  made  the  remotest 
allusion  to  each  other  to  her  request  to  enter  a  con- 
vent.    She  spoke  of  it  freely  in  after  years,  to  her 

*  This  happened  April  22d,  1789. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  127 

children,  and  always  expressed  her  full  approbation  of 
her  father's  course  on  the  occasion.  She  always  spoke 
of  her  e&rly  wish  as  rather  the  dictate  of  a  transient  sen 
timent,  than  a  fixed  conviction  of  religious  duty  ;  and 
she  warmly  applauded  the  quick  and  gentle  way  which 
her  father  took  to  lead  her  back  to  her  family,  her 
friends,  and  her  country.  Mr.  Jefferson  left  the  shores 
of  Europe  with  his  two  daughters  the  28th  of  October, 
1789,  and  the  following  February  Martha  was  married 
to  Thomas  Mann  Eandolph,  jr.,  who  had  been  a  ward 
of  her  father's.  M  The  young  people  were  cousins,  and 
had  been  attached  to  each  other  from  childhood.  He 
was  tall,  lean,  with  dark,  expressive  features  and  a 
flashing  eye,  commanding  in  carriage,  elastic  as  steel, 
and  had  that  sudden  sinewy  strength  which  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  fancy  he  inherited  from  the  forest 
monarchs  of  Virginia." 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  immediately  tendered,  and  ac- 
cepted a  position  in  President  Washington's  cab- 
inet and  made  his  home  in  ~New  York  and  after- 
ward in  Philadelphia  until  his  withdrawal  from  pub- 
lic life. 

After  President  Washington  declined  a  re-appoint- 
ment, Mr.  Adams  was  elected  to  fill  his  place,  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  the  second  position  in  the  gift  of  the  nation. 
In  1801,  he  was  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States.  His  daughter  Martha  was  liviug  at  her  hus- 
band's country  home  near  Monticello,  the  mother  of 
several  children,  and  Marie,  who  had  previously  mar- 
ried Mr.  Eppes.  of  Eppington,  was  happily  situated  at 


12S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Monticello  awaiting  her  fathers  promised  visit  in  early 
summer. 

Sir  Augustus  Foster,  who  was  Secretary  of  Leg* 
tion  at  Washington  to  the  British  Minister,  Mr.  Merry, 
has  «iven  some  rather  entertaining  accounts  of  the 
state  of  society  there  in  the  time  of  Jefferson.  M  La 
going  to  assemblies,  one  had  to  drive  three  or 
four  miles  within  the  city  bounds,  and  very  often  at 
the  risk  of  an  overturn,  or  of  being  what  is  termed 
stalled,  or  stuck  in  the  mud,  when  one  can  neither  go 
backward  nor  forward,  and  either  loses  one's  shoes  or 
one's  patience.  Cards  were  a  great  resource  of  an 
evening,  and  gaming  was  all  the  fashion,  for  the  men 
who  frequented  society  were  chiefly  from  Virginia  or 
the  Western  States,  and  were  very  fond  of  brag,  the 
most  gambling  of  all  games.  Loo  was  the  innocent 
diversion  of  the  ladies,  who  when  they  were  looed, 
pronounced  the  word  in  a  very  mincing  manner. 

"The  New  Englanders,  generally  speaking,  were 
very  religious,  but  though  there  were  manv  excep- 
tions, I  cannot  say  so  much  for  the  Marylanders,  and 
still  less  for  the  Virginians.  But  in  spite  of  its  incon- 
veniences and  desolate  aspect,  it  was.  I  think,  the  most 
agreeable  town  to  reside  in  for  any  length  of  time. 
The  opportunity  of  collecting  information  from  S 
tors  and  Representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
— the  hospitality  of  the  heads  of  the  Government  and 
the  Corps  Diplomatique  of  itself,  supplied  resources 
such  as  could  nowhere  else  be  looked  for.'1  In  Mr. 
Jefferson's    time,   the    population    numbered    about 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  120 

five  thousand  persons,  and  their  residences  were  scat- 
tered over  an  immense  space.  Society  presented  a 
novel  aspect ;  unconnected  by  similarity  of  habits,  by 
established  fashions,  by  the  ties  of  acquaintance  01 
consanguinity,  the  motley  throng  became  united  into 
one  close  and  intimate  circle  by  a  feeling  common  to 
all ;  they  were  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  and  felt  the 
necessity  of  mutual  aid  and  accommodation,  and  might 
be  compared  to  a  beautiful  piece  of  mosaic,  in  which 
an  infinity  of  separate  pieces  of  diversified  colors  are 
blended  into  one  harmonious  whole.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
many  years  after  his  retirement  from  jDublic  life,  recur- 
ring to  that  time,  remarked  to  a  friend  that  the  pecu- 
liar felicity  of  his  administration  was  the  unanimity 
that  prevailed  in  his  Cabiuet ;  "  we  were,11  said  he, 
"like  one  family.1'  The  same  spirit  of  union  and 
kindness  pervaded  the  whole  circle  of  society — a  cir- 
cle, at  that  time  very  limited  in  its  extent  and  very 
simple  in  its  habits.  The  most  friendly  and  social  in- 
tercourse prevailed  through  all  its  parts,  unshackled 
by  that  etiquette  and  ceremony  which  have  since  been 
introduced,  to  the  no  small  detriment  of  social  enjoy- 
ment. The  President's  house  was  the  seat  of  hospi- 
tality, where  Mrs.  Madison  always  presided  (in  the 
absence  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  daughters)  when  there  were 
female  guests.  Mrs.  Madison  and  her  husband  spent 
three  weeks  at  the  White  House  after  their  arrival  in 
the  city,  until  they  could  make  arrangements  to  ob- 
tain a  suitable  house.  "  A  circumstance  is  remem- 
bered11 (says  Jefferson's  biographer)  "attending  the 
abolition  of  levees,  which  provokes  a  smile.  Some 
9 


130  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

persons  in  Washington,  principally  ladies,  we  believe, 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  abolition  was  in- 
expedient ;  and  they  made  up  their  minds  to  muster 
in  force  at  the  Presidential  Mansion  at  the  usual  time. 
They  accordingly  did  so.  The  President  was  out  rid- 
ing on  horseback,  but  soon  returned.  Learning  the 
extraordinary  number  of  ladies  that  had  called,  and 
at  once  guessing  the  motive  of  the  visit,  he  went 
immediately,  hat  in  hand,  spurs  on,  and  soiled  with 
dust,  into  their  midst.  He  expressed  himself  over- 
joyed at  such  a  happy  coincidence.  Never  had  he 
been  seen  so  cordial  and  attentive.  He  allowed  no 
one  to  £0  without  urging:  her  longer  stay.  The  fair 
visitors  finally  departed,  laughing  heartily  at  each 
other  and  the  result  of  their  experience.  They  never 
repeated  it." 

In  March,  1S02,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  his  young- 
est daughter  that  he  would  be  at  home  between  the 
15th  and  20th  of  April,  and  that  he  wished  her  to  be 
prepared  to  go  back  to  Washington  with  him  and  her 
sister;  but  Congress  did  not  adjourn  as  he  expected, 
and  he  did  not  get  off  until  the  first  of  May.  The 
measles  broke  out  in  the  family  of  Mrs.  Randolph,  and 
she  did  not  go  to  Washington.  The  same  cause  pre- 
prevented  Mrs.  Eppes  from  seeing  her  father,  but 
during  the  summer  months  he  was  at  Monticello  as 
usual. 

From  the  letters  of  Mr.  Jefferson  of  November 
and  December  to  his  youngest  daughter,  we  find  him 
advising  her  to  have  good  spirits  and  profit  by  her 
asler's  cheerfulness.     "We  are  all  well  here,'1  he  says, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  13] 

"  and  hope  the  post  of  this  evening  will  bring  us  infor 
mation  of  the  health  of  all  at  Edgehill,  and  particular- 
ly that  Martha  and  the  new  bantling  are  both  well ; 
and  that  her  example  gives  you  good  spirits.'"  "  Take 
care  of  yourself,  my  dearest  Maria,  and  know  that 
courage  is  as  essential  to  triumph  in  your  case  as  in 
that  of  a  soldier.  *  *  *  Not  knowing  the  time 
destined  for  your  expected  indisposition,  I  am  anxious 
on  your  account.  You  are  prepared  to  meet  it  with 
courage,  I  hope."     And  again  he  writes  : — 

"  Washington,  March  3,  1S04. 

"The  account  of  your  illness,  my  dearest  Maria, 
was  known  to  me  only  this  morning.  Nothing  but  the 
impossibility  of  Congress  proceeding  a  single  step  in 
my  absenca,  presents  an  insuperable  bar.  Mr.  Eppes 
goes  off,  and,  I  hope,  will  find  you  in  a  convalescent 
state.  Next  to  the  desire  that  it  may  be  so,  is  that  of 
being  speedily  informed  and  of  being  relieved  from 
the  terrible  anxiety  in  which  I  shall  be  till  I  hear  from 
you.  God  bless  you,  my  ever  dear  daughter,  and  pre- 
serve you  safe  to  the  blessing  of  us  all." 

But  she  was  not  preserved,  frail  and  sensitive,  her 
nervous  system  gave  way,  and  she  never  rallied  after 
her  confinement.  She  died  on  the  17th  of  April,  be- 
tween 8  and  9  a.  m.  The  following  letter  in  con- 
nection with  this  subject  is  replete  with  interest.  It 
was  written  by  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Randolph's  to  Mr. 
Randall,  in  1856:— 

******** 

"  I  find  an  old  memorandum,  made  many  years  ago. 


132  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

I  know  not  when  nor  under  what  circumstances,  but 
by  my  own  hand,  in  the  fly-leaf  of  a  Bible.  It  is  to 
this  effect: — Maria  Jefferson  was  born  in  1778,  and 
married  in  1797.  John  AVayles  Eppes,  son  of  Francis 
Eppes  and  Elizabeth  Wayles,  second  daughter  of  John 
Wayles.  Maria  Jefferson  died  April,  1S04,  leaving 
two  children.  Francis,  born  in  1801,  and  Maria  who 
died  an  infant. 

"  I  have  no  recollection  of  the  time  when  I  made 
this  memorandum,  but  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  ac- 
curacy. 

"  Mrs.  Eppes  was  never  well  after  the  birth  of  her 
last  child.  She  lingered  a  while,  but  never  recovered. 
Mv  grandfather  was  in  "Washington,  and  my  aunt 
passed  the  winter  at  Edgehill,  where  she  was  confined. 
I  remember  the  tender  and  devoted  care  of  my 
mother,  how  she  watched  over  her  sister,  and  with 
what  anxious  affection  she  anticipated  her  every  want. 
I  remember,  at  one  time,  that  she  left  her  chamber 
and  her  own  infant,  that  she  might  sleep  in  my  aunt's 
room,  to  assist  in  taking  care  of  her  and  her  child,  I 
well  recollect  my  poor  aunt's  pale,  faded,  and  feeble 
look.  Mv  grandfather,  during  his  Presidency,  made 
two  visits  every  year  to  Monticello,  a  short  one  in  early 
spring,  and  a  longer  one  the  latter  part  of  the  sum- 
mer. He  always  stopped  at  Eagehill,  where  my 
mother  was  then  living,  to  take  her  and  the  Tvhole 
family  to  Monticello  with  him.  He  came  this  year  as 
usual,  anxious  about  the  health  of  his  youngest  daugh- 
ter, whose  situation,  though  such  as  to  excite  the  ap- 
prehension of  her  friends,  was  not  deemed  one  of  im- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WRITE    HOUSE.  133 

mediate  danger.     She  had  been  delicate  and  something 
of  an  invalid,  if  I  remember   right,  for  some  years. 
She  was  carried  to  Monticello  in  a  litter  borne  by  men. 
The  distance  was  perhaps  four  miles,  and  she  bore  the 
removal  well.     After  this,  however,  she  continued  as 
before  steadily  to  decline.     She  was  taken  out  when 
the  weather  permitted,  and  carried  around  the  lawn  in 
a  carriage,  I  think  drawn  by  men,  and  I  remember 
following  the  carriage  over   the  smooth  green   turf. 
How  long  she  lived  I  do  not  recollect,  but  it  could 
have  been  but  a  short  tinie.^  One  morning  I  heard 
that  my  aunt  was  dying ;  I  crept  softly  from  my  nur- 
sery to  her  chamber  door,  and  being  alarmed  by  her 
short,  hard  breathing,  ran  away  again.     I  have  a  dis- 
tinct recollection  of  confusion  and  dismay  in  the  house- 
hold.    I  did  not  see  my  mother.     By-and-by  one  of 
the  female  servants  came  running  in  where  I  was  with 
other  persons,  to  say  that  Mrs.  Eppes  was  dead.     The 
day  passed  I  do  not  know  how.     Late  in  the  afternoon 
I  was  taken  to  the  death  chamber.     The  body  was 
covered    with   a   white   cloth,  over  which  had  been 
strewn  a  profusion  of  flowers.     A  day  or  two  after, 
I  followed  the  coffin  to  the  burying-ground   on  the 
mountain   side,    and   saw  it   consigned  to   the  earth, 
where   it  has  lain   undisturbed  for   more   than  fifty 
years. 

"  My  mother  has  told  me  that  on  the  day  of  her 
sister's  death,  she  left  her  father  alone  for  some  hours. 
He  then  sent  for  her,  and  she  found  him  with  the 
Bible  in  his  hands.  He  who  has  been  so  often  and  so 
harshly  accused  of  unbelief,  he,  in  his  hour  of  intense 


134  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

affliction,  sought  and  found  consolation  in  the  sacred 
volume.  The  Comforter  was  there  for  his  true  heart 
and  devout  spirit,  even  though  his  faith  might  not  be 
what  the  world  called  orthodox. 

"  There  was  something  very  touching  in  the  sight  of 
this  once  beautiful  and  still  lovely  young  woman,  fading 
away  just  as  the  spring  was  coming  on  with  its  buds 
and  blossoms — nature  reviving  as  she  was  sinking  and 
closing  her  eyes  on  all  that  she  loved  best  in  life.  She 
perished  not  in  autumn  with  the  flowers,  but  as  they 
were  opening  to  the  sun  and  air  in  all  the  freshness  of 
spring.  I  think  the  weather  was  fine,  for  over  my 
own  recollection  of  these  times  there  is  a  soft,  dreamy 
sort  of  haze,  such  as  wraps  the  earth  in  warm,  dewy 
spring  time. 

"  You  know  enough  of  my  aunt's  early  history  to  be 
aware  that  she  did  not  accompany  her  father,  as  my 
mother  did,  when  he  first  went  to  France.  She  joined 
him,  I  think,  only  about  two  years  before  his  return, 
and  was  placed  in  the  same  convent  where  my  mother 
received  her  education.  Here  she  went  by  the  name 
of  Mademoiselle  Polie.  As  a  child  she  was  called 
Polly  by  her  friends.  It  was  on  her  way  to  Paris  that 
she  staid  awhile  in  London  with  Mrs.  Adams,  and 
there  is  a  pleasing  mention  of  her  in  that  lady's  pub- 
lished letters. 

"  I  think  the  visit  (not  a  very  long  one)  made  by  my 
mother  and  aunt  to  their  father  in  Washino-ton,  must 
have  been  in  the  winter  of  1802-3.  My  aunt,  I  be- 
lieve, was  never  there  again ;  but  after  her  death, 
about  the  winter  of  1805-6,  my  mother,  with  all  hei 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  135 

children,  passed  some  time  at  tlie  President's  House. 
I  remember  that  both  my  father  and  uncle  Eppes  were 
then  in  Congress,  but  cannot  say  whether  this  was  th, 

case  in  1802-3.  ,    Q1 

»  My  aunt  Mrs.  Eppes  was  singularly  beautitul.  bHe 
was  high-principled,  just,  and  generous.     Her  temper, 
naturally  mild,  became,  I  think,  saddened  by  ill-health 
in  the  latter  part  of  her  life.     In  that  respect  she  dit- 
fcred  from  my  mother,  whose  disposition  seemed  to 
have  the  sunshine    of  heaven   in    it.     Nothing  ever 
wearied  my  mother's  patience,  or  exhausted,  what  was 
inexhaustible,  her  sweetness,  her  kindness,  indulgence, 
and  self-devotion.     She  was  intellectually  somewhat 
superior  to  her  sister,  who  was  sensible  of  the  differ- 
ence,  though  she  was-  of  too  noble  a  nature  for  her 
feelings  ever  to  assume  an  ignoble  character,     I  here 
was  between  the  sisters  the  strongest  and  warmest  at- 
tachment, the  most  perfect  confidence  and  affection. 
My  aunt  utterlv  undervalued  and  disregarded  her  own 
beauty,  remarkable  as  it  was.     She  was  never  fond  of 
dress  or  ornament,  and  was  always  careless  of  admiration. 
She  was  ever  vexed  by  allusions  to  her  beauty,  saying 
that  people  only  praised  her  for  that,  because  they 
could  not  praise  her  for  better  things.     If  my  mother 
inadvertently  exclaimed,  half  sportively,  'Marie,  it  1 
only  had  your  beauty ! '  my  aunt  would  resent  it  as  far 
as  she  could  resent  any  thing  said  or  done  by  her  sister. 
It  may  be  said  the  extraordinary  value  she  attached  to 
talent  was  mainly  founded  in  her  idea  that  by  the 
possession  of  it, -she  would  become  a  more  suitable 
companion  for  her  father.     Both  daughters  considered 


136  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

affection  as  the  gi   at  good  of  their  live?,  and  both 
1  bint  with  all  the  devotion  of  their  most  loving 
hearts.     My  aunt  s   m  mourned  over  the  fear 

th  .:  her  father  must  prefer  her  sister's  society,  and 
could  not  take  the  same  pleasure  in  hers.  This  very 
hum:.::."  in  . ::  -  rely  was  a  charm  the  more  in  her 
character.  She  was  greatly  loved  and  esteemed  bv  all 
her  friends.  She  was  on  a  footing  of  the  most  inti- 
hip  with  m?  :.  Mrs.  T.  Eston 

Randolph,  ha  M  a  most  exemplary  and  admirable 
woman,  whose  daughter,  long  years  after,  married 
Francis,  Airs.  Ej  :.." 

Ever  delighting  in  the  society  of  his  two  children 
and  deeply  a  his  home.  Mr.  Jefferson  felt  this 

blow  with  terrible  anguish.  Worthy  of  so  good  a 
man's  affection,  they  were  never  so  happy  as  in  being 
with  their  :'.  ith  :\  contributing  to  his  comfort  in  num- 
berless way-.  They  both  married  cousins  when  quite 
young,  but  ~  rer  far  from  their  childhood's  home, 

and  were  always  under  his  roof  when  he  paid  his  semi- 
annual visits  there.  Mrs.  Randolph  was  a  brilliant 
woman ;  and  had  her  :  a  less  inclined  to  do- 

mestic life,  she  wc  ol  I  have  been  a  renowned  belle. 
Educated  abroad  and  strengthened  mentally  by  travel 
and  the  of  the  literary  talent  ever  to  be  found 

about  her  fatter,  she  became  conversant  with  knowl- 
s  richest  store,  and  surpassed  most  of  the  women 
of  her  day  in  accomplishments.     Though  widely  differ- 
:::  in    th  r  ,  there  was  m  ich  :   semblance  be 

tween  the  President  and  Vice  President  in  the  intensity 
af  th  b  I     -  for  their  daughters.     Theodosia  Burr  and 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  13? 

Martha  Jefferson  will  be  familiar  names  so  long  as  the 
history  of  this  country  shall  be  among  the  things  of 
earth.  Both  intellectual  companions  of  their  only 
parents,  both  ardently  attached  to  fathers  they 
deemed  the  wisest  and  greatest  of  earth — they  have 
become  forever  linked  with  the  life  and  times  of  each, 
and  covers  for  the  one  a  multitude  of  faults,  and  has 
made  the  other  dear  to  his  people.  Both  were  great 
men,  adored  by  daughters  gifted  and  good.  Theoclosia 
Burr  has  thrown  around  her  father's  name  a  romantic 
interest  which  veils  many  infirmities,  and  adds  lustre 
to  the  traits  which  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  redeemed 
him. 

Mrs.  Adams,  who  had  known  Maria  Jefferson  and 
loved  her  when  a  child,  overcame  the  pride  she  had 
allowed  to  control  her  silent  pen,  and  wrote  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  awakening  in  his  heart  tender  feelings  of 
friendship  too  long  allowed  to  Jie  dormant.  He  re- 
plied that  her  former  kindnesses  to  his  lost  child  made 
a  deep  impression  on  her  mind,  and  that  to  the  last, 
on  our  meetings  after  long  separations,  "  whether  I  had 
heard  lately  of  you,"  and  "  how  you  did,"  were  among 
the  earliest  of  her  inquiries.  Mrs.  Adams'  letter  was 
as  follows : 

"  Quixot,  20th  May,  1804. 

"Had  you  been  no  other  than  the  private  inhabitants 
of  Monticello,  I  should,  ere  this  time,  have  addressed 
you  with  that  sympathy  which  a  recent  event  has 
awakened  iu  my  bosom  ;  but  reasons  of  various  kinds 
withheld  my  pen,  until  the  powerful  feelings   of  my 


138  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

heart  burst  through  the  restraint,  and  called  upon  me 
to  shed  the  tear  of  sorrow  over  the  departed  remains 
of  your  beloved  and  deserving  daughter — an  event 
which  I  sincerely  mourn. 

"  The  attachment  which  I  formed  for  her  when  you 
committed  her  to  my  care,  upon  her  arrival  in  a  for- 
eign land,  under  circumstances  peculiarly  interesting, 
has  remained  with  me  to  this  hour :  and  the  account  of 
her  death,  which  I  read  in  a  late  paper,  recalled  to  my 
recollection  the  tender  scene  of  her  separation  from 
me,  when,  with  the  strongest  sensibility,  she  clung 
round  my  neck  and  wet  my  bosom  with  her  tears,  say- 
ing, "  Oh  !  now  I  have  learned  to  love  yon,  why  will 
they  take  me  from  you  ?  " 

"  It  has  been  some  time,  since  I  conceived  that  any 
event  in  this  life  could  call  forth  feelings  of  mutual 
sympathy.  But  I  know  how  closely  entwined  around 
a  parent's  heart  are  those  cords  which  bind  the  pater- 
nal to  the  filial  bosom  ;  and  when  snapped  assunder, 
how  agonizing  the  pangs.  I  have  tasted  of  the  bitter 
cup,  and  bow  with  reverence  and  submission  before 
the  great  Dispenser  of  it,  without  whose  permission 
and  overruling  providence  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the 
ground.  That  you  may  derive  comfort  and  consola- 
tion in  this  day  of  your  sorrow  and  affliction  from  that 
only  source  calculated  to  heal  the  wounded  heart — a 
firm  belief  in  the  being,  perfection,  and  attributes  of 
God — is  the  sincere  and  ardent  wish  of  her  who  once 
took  pleasure  in  subscribing  herself  your  friend, 

"  Abigail  Adams." 


LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  139 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  inaugurated  President  a  second 
time  on  the  4th  of  March,  1805,  then  in  the  sixty-sec- 
ond year  of  his  age.  The  following  winter,  hi*  only 
daughter,  with  all  her  children,  passed  most  of  the 
season  at  the  White  House.  She  never  made  but  two 
visits  there;  one  with  her  sister,  the  second  year  of  his 
first  term,  and  this  last  one  in  the  winter  of  1805—6, 
after  her  sisters  death.  Means  of  travel  were  not  so 
rapid  or  pleasant  as  now,  and  the  laborious  and  ex- 
tremely tedious  undertaking  of  travelling  so  far  in  a 
carriage  was  sufficient  to  dampen  the  desire  of  living 
for  a  few  alternate  months  with  her  father.  The  un- 
healthy condition  of  "Washington  at  that  time,  its 
low  and  marshy  condition,  engendering  disease,  ren- 
dered it  absolutely  necessary  for  those  unacclimated  to 
be  out  of  its  limits  during  the  hot  months  of  summer. 
The  increasing  cares  of  children  and  the  duties  of 
Virginia  matrons,  also  deterred  Mrs.  Randolph  from 
becoming,  as  we  must  only  regret  she  did  not,  perma- 
nently located  in  the  President's  House. 

Her  memory  is  so  fragrant  with  the  perfume  of 
purity  and  saintly  sweetness,  that  it  is  a  privilege  to 
dwell  and  muse  upon  a  theme  so  elevating.  The 
world  has  not  yet  developed  a  more  harmonious,  re- 
fined, or  superior  type  of  womanhood  than  the  daugh- 
ters of  Virginia  in  the  last  century.  Reared  in  ease 
and  plenty,  taught  the  virtues  that  ennoble,  and  val- 
uing their  good  name  no  less  than  prizing  their  family 
lineage,  they  were  the  most  delightful  specimens  of 
womanhood  ever  extant.     Most  rjarticularlv  was  Mar- 

J.  V 

tha  Jefferson  of  this  class,  whose  image  is  fast  losing 


140  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

originality  in  the  modern  system  of  utilitarian  educa- 
tion. Her  father's  and  her  husband's  great  enemy 
pronounced  her  t;  the  sweetest  woman  in  Virginia;" 
and  the  assurance  comes  laden  with  the  testimony 
of  many  tongues,  that  her  existence  was  one  of  genial 
sunshine  and  peace.  Are  not  such  natures  doubly 
blessed,  first,  in  the  happiness  they  secure  to  them- 
selves, and,  secondly,  in  the  blessing  they  are  to  those 
who  walk  in  the  light  of  their  example  ?  With  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Jefferson  from  public  life,  came  a 
new  trouble  in  the  shape  of  innumerable  visitors,  and 
the  seventeen  yea?s  he  lived  at  Monticello  was  one 
continued  scene  of  new  faces  and  old  friends.  Even 
after  the  loss  of  property  and  accumulated  debts,  he 
was  compelled  to  entertain  thoughtless  crowds  who 
made  pilgrimages  to  his  shrine.  Time  and  again  he 
would  go  to  an  adjoining  estate  to  secure  that  rest  and 
quiet  so  essential  to  his  health  ;  but  these  visits  were 
never"  of  long  duration,  for  he  could  not  consent  to  be 
separated  from  his  daughter,  even  though  accompanied 
by  his  grandchildren.  As  the  shadows  began  to 
darken  round  his  earth-life,  and  bankruptcy  to  hover 
over  him,  he  turned  with,  redoubled  affection  to  this 
idol,  and  she  was  strong  and  faithful  to  the  last. 
Mother  and  sister  she  had  buried,  and  she  was  yet 
strong  enough  to  see  her  husband  and  father  taken. 

"  There  were  few  eminent  men  of  our  country,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  some  political  adversaries,  who  did  not 
visit  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  retirement,  to  say  nothing  of 
distinguished  foreis-ncrs."  But  all  visitors  were  not  as 
agreeable  as  "  eminent  men."     "  There  are  a  number 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  141 

of  persons  now  living  who  have  seen  groups  of  utter 
strangers,  of  both  sexes,  planted  in  the  passage  be- 
tween his  study  and   dining-room,    consulting    then- 
watches,  and  waiting  for  him  to  pass  from  one  to  the 
other  to  his  dinner,  so  that  they  could  momentarily 
stare  at  him.     A  female  once  punched  through  a  win- 
dow-pane of  the  house,  with  her  parasol,  to  get  a  bet- 
ter view  of  him.     When  sitting  in  the  shade  of  his 
porticoes  to   enjoy  the   coolness   of   the   approaching 
evening,  parties  of  men  and  women  would  sometimes 
approach  within  a  dozen  yards,  and  gaze  at  him  point- 
blank  until  they  had  looked  their  fill,  as  they  would 
have  gazed  on  a  lion  in  a  menagerie.'' 

Mrs.  Randolph  was  uthe  apple  of  her  father's  eye." 
All  his  letters  bear  witness  to  his  affection,  and  all  his 
life  records  this  prominent  sentiment  of  his  heart.     A 
gentleman  writing  to  him  for  his  views  on   a  proper 
course  of  education  for  woman,  he  takes  the  opportu- 
nity of  complimenting  her  unconsciously.  "  A  plan  of 
female  education,"  he  says,  -has  never  been  a  subject 
of  systematic  contemplation  with  me.     It  has  occupied 
my  attention  so  far  only  as  the  education  of  my  own 
daughters    occasionally  required.      Considering    that 
they  would  be  placed  in  a  country  situation  where  lit- 
tle aid  could  be  obtained  from  abroad,  I  thought  it  es- 
sential to  give  them   a  solid  education,  which  might 
enable  them— when  become  mothers— to  educate  their 
own  daughters,  and  even  to  direct  the  course  for  sons, 
should  their  lathers  be  lostyor  incapable,  or  inatten- 
tive. 

••  My  surviving  daughter  accordingly,  the  mother 


142  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  many  daughters  as  well  as  sons,  lias  made  their 
education  the  object  of  her  life,  and  being  a  better 
judge  of  the  practical  part  than  myself,  it  is  with  her 
aid  and  that  of  one  of  her  eleves,  that  I  shall  subjoin  a 
catalogue  of  the  books  for  such  a  course  of  reading  as 
we  have  practised.''1 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  his  grandson,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son Eandolph,  he  says : 

"  You  kindly  encourage  me  to  keep  up  my  spirits ; 
but  oppressed  with  disease,  debility,  age,  and  embar- 
rassed affairs,  this  is  difficult.  For  myself,  I  should 
not  regard  a  prostration  of  fortune ;  but  I  am  over- 
whelmed at  the  prospect  of  the  situation  in  which  I 
may  leave  my  family.  My  dear  and  beloved  daugh- 
ter, the  cherished  companion  of  my  early  life,  and 
nar.se  of  my  age,  and  her  children,  rendered  as  dear  to 
me  as  if  my  own,  from  having  lived  with  me  from 
their  cradle,  left  in  a  comfortless  situation,  hold  up  tome 
nothing  but  future  gloom ;  and  I  should  not  care  were 
life  to  end  with  the  line  I  am  writing,  were  it  not 
that  in  the  unhappy  state  of  mind  which  your  father's 
misfortunes  have  brought  upon  him,  I  may  yet  be  of 
some  avail  to  the  family?' 

Ex-President  Jefferson  died  the  4th  of  Julv,  1826, 
and  at  nearly  the  same  hour  passed  away  the  spirit  of 
John  Adams.  He  lingered  a  little  behind  Jefferson, 
and  his  last  words,  uttered  in  the  failing  articulation 
of  the  dying,  were  :  "  Jefferson  still  survives.1'  Mrs. 
Randolph  left  no  written*  account  of  the  scene.  On 
the  21  of  July,  Mr.  Jefferson  handed  her  a  little  cas- 
ket.    On  opening  it.  after  lii^  d**ath,  she  found  a  papei 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  143 

on  which  he  had  written  the  lines  of  Moore,  commenc- 
ing: 

"  It  is  not  the  ter.r  at  this  moment  shed 
When  the  cold  turf  has  just  heen  lain  o'er  him" 

There  is  also  a  touching  tribute  to  his  daughter, 
declaring  that  while  he  "  goes  to  his  fathers,"  "  the 
last  pang  of  life,"  is  in  parting  from  her ;  that  "  two 
Graphs  "  "  long  shrouded  in  death  "  (meaning  doubt- 
less his  wife  and  younger  daughter)  "  await  him  ;  ™ 
that  he  will  "  bear  them  her  love.1' 

After  this,  all  is  sadness.  To  satisfy  creditors  all 
the  property  was  sold,  and  the  proceeds  did  not  fully 
meet  the  debts. 

"  When  it  became  known  that  Monticello  had 
gone,  or  must  go  out  of  the  hands  of  Mr.  Jefferson1.- 
family,  and  that  his  only  child  was  left  without  an 
independent  provision,  another  exhibition  of  public 
feeling  took  place.  The  Legislatures  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  Louisiana  promptly  voted  her  §10,000  each, 
and  the  stocks  they  created  for  the  purpose  sold  for 
$21,800.  Other  plans  were  started  in  other  States, 
which,  had  they  been  carried  out,  would  have  em- 
braced a  liberal  provision  for  Mr.  Jefferson's  descend- 
ants. But,  as  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  the  people  in 
each  locality  obtained  exaggerated  impressions  of  what 
was  doin^  in  others,  and  slackened  their  own  exer- 
tions  until  the  feeling  that  prompted  them  died  away." 

Two  years  passed,  and  Mrs.  Kandolph  was  called 
upon  to  see  her  husband  die,  and  she  of  all  her  name 
remained  to  link  the  memory  of  her  ancestors  with 
those  of  her  descendants. 


144  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE. 

Governor  Thomas  Mann  Randolph  died  on  the 
20th  day  of  June,  1828,  two  years  after  Mr.  Jefferson's 

death. 

At  some  period  before,  he  was  riling  on  horse- 
back, near  night-fall,  on  a  wet,  cold  day,  when  he  over- 
took an  aged  man  thinly  clad  and  apparently  suffering. 
They  were  remote  from  any  dwelling.  Randolph  un- 
solicited unbuckled  his  cloak,  threw  it  on  the  old  man, 
and  rode  on.  He  had  a  number  of  miles  to  go,  and 
the  exposure  proved  fatal  to  him.  The  gloom  and 
misanthropy  which  had  clouded  his  later  years,  broke 
away  at  his  dying  couch.  He  expired  at  pence  with 
all  the  world  and  invoking  blessings  on  every  member 
of  his  family. 

An  autograph  letter,  kindly  furnished  by  Mrs.  Los- 
sing  for  this  work,  was  written  by  Mr.  Randolph  to 
Mrs.  Madison,  soon  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Madison. 


u  Mrs.  Madisox,  Montpelier,  Orange  Court  House,  Vir- 
ginia. 

••I  believe  I  made  a  mistake,  mv  dear  friend,  with 

» 

regard  to  the  hour  of  our  reachius:  Orange  Court 
House.  I  understood  it  to  be  night  before  the  stasfe 
arrived.  They  tell  me  here  that  it  gets  to  Orange 
Court  House  early  in  the  day,  where,  if  you  can  send 
your  carriage  for  us,  Cornelia,  Mary  Cutts,  and  my- 
self will  go  immediately  to  Montpelier.  Mary  and 
Septimia  will  keep  on  in  the  stage  to  Albemarle. 
Friday  then  we  shall  be  with  you.  I  have  merelv 
written  these  few  lines  to  rectifv  the  mistake.     Gocl 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  145 

bless  you,  dear  friend,  and  support  you   under  youi 
present  sorrow,  is  the  daily  and  nightly  prayer  of 
"  Your  most  affectionate  friend, 

"  M.  Ra]ntdolph. 

"  Alexandria,  July  6th,  1836." 

To  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Virginia  Jefferson  Trist 
of  Philadelphia,  I  am  indebted  for  this  narrative  of 
the  closing  eight  years  of  Mrs.  Randolph's  life. 

"My  Dear  Madam: 

"  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  answer  your  in- 
quiries more  satisfactorily  than  I  am  able  to  do.  My 
recollections  of  my  mother,  at  so  early  a  period  of  my 
life  as  the  one  referred  to,  are  altogether  childish  and 
imperfect.  It  is  true,  my  very  earliest  recollections  are 
connected  wuth  a  winter  passed  in  the  White  House 
during  my  grandfather's  presidency,  but  they  are  so 
few  and  so  scanty  and  childish,  as  they  rise  before  me 
in  the  mists  of  long  past  years,  that  really  nothing 
worth  offering  you  suggests  itself  to  my  mind. 

"  My  mother  was  born  in  September,  1772,  and  had 
therefore  entered  her  29th  year  when  her  father  was 
elected  President.  She  was  then  the  mother  of  five 
children,  having  married  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen. 
Thus  surrounded  by  a  family  of  young  children,  she 
could  not  pass  much  of  her  time  in -Washington  ;  she 
did,  however,  spend  two  winters  there,  the  first  in 
1802-3,  the  second  "in  1805-6.  Her  health  wTas  very 
bad  on  the  first  of  these  two  occasions  of  her  visiting 
her  father.  Having  an  abscess  on  her  lungs,  she  was. 
10 


146  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

advised  by  her  jjhysician  to  go  to  pass  the  winter  in 
Bermuda,  and  for  this  purpose  left  her  home  in 
Albemarle,  Virginia,  to  go  as  far  as  Washington  in 
her  travelling  carriage — the  only  mode  at  that  day  of 
making  the  journey  of  four  days'  duration.  During 
this  journey  the  abscess  broke,  and  she  felt  so  much 
relieved  that  her  going  to  Bermuda  was  no  longer 
considered  necessary,  and  she  passed  that  winter  with 
her  father.  I  believe  my  father  was  in  Congress  at 
that  time.  My  mothers  only  sister,  Maria  Jefferson, 
then  Mrs.  John  W.  Eppes,  was  also  a  member  of  her 
father's  family  that  winter,  her  husband  being  in 
Congress.  There  was  a  difference  of  six  vears  in  the 
ages  of  the  sisters ;  my  mother,  who  was  the  oldest,  had 
accompanied  her  father  to  France  where  she  was 
educated  under  his  eyes.  My  aunt  had  afterward 
followed  them  to  Paris  under  the  wing  of  Mrs.  John 
Adams,  in  whose  correspondence  mention  is  made  of 
her.  The  throe  became  thus  reunited  only  two  years 
before  their  return  home,  after  which  she  (my  aunt) 
was  placed  at  school  in  Philadelphia.  She  grew  up 
possessed  of  rare  beauty  and  loveliness  of  person  as 
well  as  disposition  ;  but  her  health  was  delicate  and  her 
natural  modesty  and  timidity  was  so  great  as  to  make 
her  averse  to  society.  Undervaluing  her  own  personal 
advantages,  she  regarded  with  the  warmest  admiration, 
as  well  as  sisterly  affection,  her  sister's  more  positive 
character  and  brilliant  intellectual  endowments.  My 
mother  was  not  a  beauty;  her  features  were  less 
regular  than  her  sister's,  her  face  owing  its  charms 
more  to  its  expressiveness,  beaming  as  it  ever  was  with 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  147 

kindness,  good  humor,  gayefcy,  and  wit  She  was  tall 
and  very  graceful,  notwithstanding  a  certain  degree  of 
embonpoint.  Her  complexion  naturally  fair,  her  hair 
of  a  dark  chestnut  color,  very  long  and  very  abundant. 
I  have  always  heard  that  her  manners  were  uncom- 
monly attractive  from  their  vivacity,  amiability, 
and  high  breeding,  and  her  conversation  was  charming. 
These  two  sisters  were  the  ladies  of  the  White 
House  in  1802-3.  My  mother  was  very  sociable  and 
enjoyed  society.  I  remember  hearing  her  mention  a 
circumstance  which  seemed  to  illustrate  the  natural 
difference  of  their  characters.  She  said  one  day, 
laughingly,  '  Maria,  if  I  had  your  beauty,  I  should  not 
feel  so  indifferent  as  you  do  about  it.'  My  aunt  looked 
vexed  and  pained,  and  observed,  '  Compliments  to  a 
pretty  face  were  indications  that  no  intellectual  attrac- 
tions existed  in  its  possessor.' 

"  From  their  contemporary,  Mrs.  Madison,  I  have 
heard,  that  that  winter  when  the  sisters  were  going- 
together  into  society,  although  on  entering  a  room  all 
eyes  were  turned  on  the  younger,  who  became  a  centre 
of  attraction,  particularly  to  the  gentlemen,  that  by 
degrees  my  mother's  vivacity  and  the  charms  of  her 
conversation  and  manners  drew  around  her  a  circle  of 
admirers  who  delighted  in  listening  to  her  even 
more  than  in  looking  at  her  beautiful  sister.  These 
two  sisters  lived  in  perfect  harmony,  linked  together 
by  the  warmest  mutual  affection,  as  well  as  their  com- 
mon devotion  to  their  father  whom  both  idolized. 

"My  mother's  second  visit  to  her  father  was  in  the 
winter  of  1805-6.     She  had  then  lost  her  sister.     My 


14S  ladies  or  rai  white  house. 

aunt  left  two  children, Irancis  and  Maria  Jefferson; 
the  little  girl  was  only  a  few  months  old  and  did  not 

long  survive  her  mother.     Francis  passed  that  winter 
under  my  mother's  care,  his  father  being  still  in  Con- 
One  of  my  brothers  was  born  that  same  winter , 
first  birth  which  took  place  in  the  White  House. 
He  was  called  James  Madison.     Mrs.  Madison  was  an 
intimate  and  much  valued  friend  of  my  mothers,  and 
her  amiable,  playful  manners  with  children  attracted 
my  sisters  and  myself  and  made  her  a  great  favorite 
Among   my  childish   recollections   is   her 
{  running  away  with  us,'  as  she  playfully  expressed  it, 
when  she  took  us  away  with  her  in  her  carriage,  to 
give  us  a  drive  and  then  take  us  home  with  her  to  play 
ritl    two  of  her  nieces  near  our  ages,  and  lunch  on 
cranberry  tarts.      My  oldest  raster,  Anne,  completed 
her  fifteenth  year  that  winter,  and  was  not  yet  going 
into  society ;  but  my  mother  permitted  her  to  go  to  a 
ball  under  tl  •  of  a  lady  .  who  requested 

that  my   sister  might   go  to   her  house  to  dress  and 
)wn  daughter  near  her  age  to  the  ball. 
My  sister  great  admiration  on  that  occasion. 

She  Lad  a  u  remarkably  classic  head,"  as  I  remember 
hearing  an  Italian  artist  remark  at  Monticello  upon 
seeing  her  ther  was  the  mother  of  several 

children.  Her  hair  was  a  beautiful  auburn,  and  her 
plexion  Lai  a  delicate  bloom  very  becoming  to  her, 
and  with  the  freshness  of  fifteen  I  can  readily  imagine 
how  strikino-lv  handsome  she  was.  My  mother,  ac 
Mrs.  Cutts — the  mother  of  Gen. 
Richard  D.  Cutts— went  to  the  ball  at  a  later  hour 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE.  149 

She  was  very  short-sighted,  and  seeing  my  sister  on 
entering  the  ball  room  she  asked  Mrs.  Cutts,  "  Who  is 
that  beautiful  girl?'1  Mrs.  Cutts,  much  amused, 
answered,  "  Why,  woman,  are  you  so  unnatural  a  mother 
as  not  to  recognize  your  own  daughter  % " 

"My  sister  died  many  years  ago;  if  she  were  now 
living,  she  could  no  doubt  tell  much  of  what  happened 
that^winter  in  the  White  House.      She  formed  some 
pleasant  acquaintances  in  Washington,  and  made  some 
friends  with  whom  she  corresponded  for  years.     I  have 
Borne  recollections  of  the  house  as  it  w^as  before  being 
burned  by  the  British,  and  as  it  was  rebuilt  on  the 
same  plan ;  I  have  since  recognized  parts  of  it  most  fa- 
miliar to  my  eyes.     A  lasting  impression  was  made 
upon  my  memory  by  the  reception  in  one  of  the  draw- 
ing-rooms, of    the   Tunisian  Ambassador  and  suite; 
the  brilliantly  lighted  room,  the  odd  appearance  to  my 
puzzled  senses  of  the  rich  Turkish  dresses,  and  my 
alarm  at  receiving  a  kiss  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Ambassador,  whilst  one  of  my  sisters,  just  two  years 
old,  whose  Saxon  complexion  and  golden  hair  made 
her  a  beautiful  picture,  was  honored  by  a  kiss  from  the 
Ambassador,  of  which  she  has  no  recollection.     I  heard 
of  the  elegant  presents  brought  by  them  for  my  moth- 
er and  aunt,  and  which  were  publicly  exhibited  and 
sold.       My    mother  wished  to  purchase  one  of  the 
shawls  intended  for  her,  but  when  Mrs.  Madison  went 
to  make  the  purchase  she  found  that  she  had  been  an- 
ticipated by  another  person.     Tne  talk  about  these 
presents  could  not,  of  course,  fail  to  greatly  excite  my 
childish  curiosity,  but  my  desire  to  see  them  was  not 


150  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

gratified.  My  grandfather  did  not  allow  theni  to  be 
brought  to  the  President's  House,  as  it  was  then  called 
— a  name  which,  ii^seenis,  was  too  plain  English  to  suit 
modern  notions  of  dignified  refinement,  for  it  has  been 
superseded  by  the  more  stately  appellation  of  '  Execu- 
tive Mansion.' 

"  From  its  being  the  cause  of  my  disappointment  in 
seeing  those  beautiful  specimens  of  Oriental  luxury  and 
taste,  my  grandfather's  strictness  on  that  occasion  served 
to  impress  upon  my  mind,  earlier  than  it  otherwise 
would  have  been  impressed,  a  trait  of  his  character 
which  afterward  became  as  familiar  to  me,  and  as  nat- 
ural a  part  of  himself,  as  the  sound  of  his  voice — I 
mean  his  scrupulousness  in  conforming  to  the  laws  in 
all  things,  great  or  small. 

"  To  return  to  my  mother,  it  is  to  that  period  that 
belongs  a  remark  which  Ions;  afterward  I  was  told 
had  been  made  of  her  by  the  Marquis  de  Yrugo,  the 
Spanish  Ambassador,  that  she  was  fitted  to  grace  any 
court  in  Europe.  I  was  then  too  young  to  know  and 
appreciate  her  as  I  afterward  came  to  do.  I  have 
never  known  any  one  who  accomplished  as  much  as 
she  did,  making  use  of  all  she  had  been  taught,  in  an 
education  wdrich  fitted  her  for  the  performance  of  the 
various  duties  which  fell  to  her  lot.  After  my  grand- 
father retired  from  public  life,  she  became  the  mistress 
of  his  house.  My  father  visited  his  farm  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Monticello  daily,'  and  during  the  busy  sea- 
son of  harvest  my  mother  always  staid  with  him  while 
it  lasted.  My  mother  educated  her  six  daughters  un- 
assisted by  any  one.     During  the  summer  months,  flie 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  151 

crowds  of  visitors  to  my  grandfather  who  filled  the 
house  and  engrossed  much  of  her  time,  interrupted  oui 
studies  and  made  us  lose  much  precious  time  ;  but  she 
had  the  art  of    awakening  an  interest  in  what  she 
taught  us,  and  exciting  a   desire    for    improvement, 
which  made  us  make  the  most  of  the  quiet   winter 
months  which    she    could  devote  to  us.     She  was  a 
good  musician,  and  was  fond  of  gardening;  she  super 
intended  personally  all  household  matters,  and  in  the 
winter  evenings  when  my  grandfather  was  seated  in 
his   arm-chair  in  the  chimney  corner,  a  small  candle- 
stand  was  placed  between  them,  and  they  spent  the  eve- 
nings reading.     She   had   all  the  tastes  which  made 
country  life  agreeable,  without  losing  her  relish  for  the 
attractions  of  town  life.     Such  was  my  mother  as  I 
knew  her,  and  I  remember  her  most  perfectly.     She 
was  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  eleven  of  whom 

lived  to  grow  up. 

"  My  youngest  sister's  name  was  Septimia.  She  was 
my  mother's  seventh  daughter,  and  her  name  was  the 
occasion  of  a  poetic  compliment  to  my  mother  from  an 
old  Portuguese  gentleman,  the  Abbe  Correa  de  Serra, 
who  visited  my  grandfather  every  year  during  his  long 
residence  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  for  several  years 
Portuguese  Ambassador  to  the  United  States.  His 
learning,  his  interesting  and  instructive  conversation, 
the  amiable,  childlike  simplicity  of  his  character  and 
manners,  made  this  old  philosopher  alike  attractive  to 
the  older  and  younger  members  of  the  family.  His 
visits  were  enjoyed  by  us  all,  from  my  grandfather  and 
mother  down  to  the  youngest  child  of  the  house,  only 


152  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

two  years  old.  In  allusion  to  her  name  of  Septirnia, 
he  said  to  my  mother,  'Your  daughters.  Mrs.  Randolph, 
are  like  the  Pleiades ;  they  are  called  seven,  but  six  only 
are  seen.'      The  second  daughter  died  an  infant. 

"T  regret,  dear  madam,  that  the  small  contribu- 
tion which  I  can  make  to  the  materials  you  have  for 
your  book  should  be. so  slow  in  reaching  you,  and  it 
has  been  from  no  want  of  zeal  on  my  part  that  this 
delay  has  arisen.  I  have  been  so  much  indisposed  as 
to  have  to  keej>  my  bed  since  I  received  your  letter, 
and  Mr.  Trist  has  been  an  invalid  for  more  than  two 
months  past,  requiring,  of  course,  much  of  my  time 
aDd  attention.  My  two  unmarried  sisters,  who  have 
formed  a  part  of  my  family  since  my  mother's  death, 
have  nothing  to  add,  they  say,  to  what  I  have  written ; 
our  recollections  of  those  days  are  nearly  the  same. 
We  are  a  household  of  infirm  old  people,  and  my  bad 
sight  is.  of  all  my  infirmities,  that  which  is  the  most 
troublesome ;  it  prevents  my  reading  or  writing  in  the 
winter  evening  oka  with  large  clear  print, 

and  for  months  together  I  have  sometimes  been  de- 
prived of  the  power  of  using  my  eyes  by  daylight.  I 
am  glad  they  happen  to  be  better  at  present.  I  am 
told  that  the  lett  ra  :  Mrs.  Smith  [the  daughter  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Adams]  were  published  by  her 
laughter  after  her  mothers  death,  and  that  in  them 
she  speaks  of  mv  mother,  whom  she  saw  in  Paris 
when  a  young  girl  of  sixteen  years. 

"The  from  which  the  enclosed  extracts  were 

made  are  the  only  ones  of  my  mother's  that  we  can 
procure  at  the  present  time.     They  are  all  addressed 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  153 

to  the  same  person,  the  youngest  of  her  daughters,  and 
being  chiefly  letters  of  .advice  and  admonition  to  a 
young  girl,  may  be  wholly  uninteresting  to  general 
readers,  though  the  interest  you  express  in  the  writer 
of  them  may  make  them  not  unacceptable  to  you.  ^To 
us  who  knew  her,  they  are  eminently  characteristic 
and  expressive  of  her  habitual  feelings  and  opinions. 
The  little  note  written  in  the  winter  of  1828 — which 
she  passed  alternately  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Cool- 
iclge,  in  Boston,  and  in  the  house  of  her  kind  friend, 
Mrs.  Stearns,  in  Cambridge,  where  Septimia  was  at  the 
time,  going  to  a  day-school — reminds  us  of  her  cheer- 
fulness in  adversity  and  the  natural  playfulness  of  her 
disposition,  which,  as  well  as  her  love  of  flowers,  she 
never  lost  to  the  last  days  of  her  life.  Iu  writing  to 
one  of  us*  and  speaking  of  this  and  other  tastes  of  hers 
in  which  music  was  included,  I  remember  her  using 
these  words,  which  to  us  had  a  touching  significance : 
1  The  few  useless  pleasures  which  still  strew  my  path 
would  be  heartless  all,  wil^iout  my  dear  children/ 
The  note  in  question  refers  apparently  to  an  invita- 
tion from  a  young  friend  in  Boston  to  a  former  com- 
panion in  Cambridge.  The  letters  of  the  winters  of 
1832-33  need  no  explanation.  I  shall  only  observe 
that  the  impression  made  on  my  mother's  mind  in  fa- 
vor of  the  Catholic  religion,  was  the  consequence  of 
her  having  passed  several  years  in  a  Catholic  convent 
and  house  of  education  for  young  ladies  in  Paris,  the 
:  Abbaye  Royale  de  Panthemont.'  The  church  of  this 
building,  considered  rather  remarkable  on  account  of 
some  peculiarity  in  its  dome,  is,  I  believe,  still  in  exis- 


154  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

tence,  and  has  "been  used  as  a  Protestant  church.  It 
stands  on  the  corner  of  the  Eue  de  Grenelle  and  the 
Rue  de  Bellechasse,  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  this  at  least 
is  my  recollection  of  it  after  a  pilgrimage  made  to  it 
many  years  ago.  The  attempt  of  the  good  nuns  of 
this  establishment  to  make  a  proselyte  of  ray  mother 
seems  to  have  been  prosecuted  with  zeal,  as  they 
thought  it  advisable,  on  this  special  occasion,  to  call  into 
requisition  the  abilities  and  powers  of  persuasion  of 
the  Abbe  Edge  worth  de  Firmont,  the  same  who  after- 
ward acted  as  confessor  to  Louis  XVI.  in  the  days 
of  his  adversity,  and  accompanied  him  to  the  guillo- 
tine. Of  this  truly  pious  and  good  man  she  always 
.spoke  with  feelings  of  kindness  and  respect.  If  he 
failed  in  his  efforts  to  convert  to  his  faith  one  so  young, 
so  guileless,  and  so  susceptible  of  strong  religious  im- 
pressions as  my  mother,  it  was  simply  because  her  de- 
votion to  her  father  was  so  great  as  to  overpower  all  her 
other  feelings.  I  have  heard  her  speak  of  the  over- 
whelming emotion  with  which  her  first  request  to  be 
permitted  to  embrace  the  Catholic  faith  was  received 
by  him,  and  the  earnestness  of  his  entreaties  that  she 
would  refrain  from  taking  any  decisive  step  at  that  time, 
and  would  at  least  allow  herself  time  and  opportunity  for 
calm,  deliberate,  mature  reflection.  She  felt,  then,  that 
she  coulel  never  be  the  cause  of  so  much  unhappiness 
to  her  father,  whatever  might  be  the  consequences  to 
herself,  and  made  no  opposition  to  an  immediate  re- 
moval from  the  convent  to  her  father's  house  in  Paris. 
I  elo  not  believe  that  the  subject  was  ever  afterward 
discussed  between  them  ;   but  I  have  heard  her  say,  in 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  155 

relation  to  some  books  given  her  by  the  Abbe  Edge 
worth,  not  all  on  religious  subjects,  that  for  a  long  time 
after  she  had  renounced  all  idea  of  professing  the 
Catholic  faith,  she  could  not  look  upon  them  without 
their  awakening  such  painful  sensations  in  her  mind 
that  she  desired  to  put  them  out  of  her  sight. 

"The  letter  of  January,  1836,  written  nine  months 
before  her  death,  was  in  answer  to  one  received  from 
her  daughter,  giving  an  account  of  a  journey  to  Pen- 
sacola.  The  incident  alluded  to,  of  the  stage  coach  in 
which  the  travellers  found  themselves — the  driver 
having  carelessly  quitted  his  seat  leaving  them  to  the 
mercy  of  excited  horses  just  approaching  the  top  of  a 
steep  and  difficult  descent,  was  by  no  means  the  great- 
est danger  to  which  the  travellers  were  exposed  in  this 
journey  through  Florida.  The  Indian  hostilities  were 
just  breaking  out  there,  and  all  was  in  a  state  of  alarm 
and  excitement  wherever  they  passed.  My  sister's 
destination  was  Donaldsonville,  but  having  reached 
Pensacola,  it  became  so  manifestly  unsafe  for  her  to  go 
farther,  or  to  return,  that  she  was,  induced  to  accept  a 
kind  and  pressing  invitation  from  an  old  friend  of  her 
family,  and  remain  where  she  was,  enjoying  the  mild 
climate  so  requisite  to  her  health  under  the  roof  of 
those  hospitable  Virginians  until  the  difficulties  which 
beset  her  path  were  removed.  Mr.  Trist,  however,  be- 
ing relieved  from  the  embarrassment  of  his  female 
companion,  was  not  to  be  deterred  from  pursuing  his 
journey  to  ISew  Orleans,  where  he  was  to  embark  for 
Havana. " 


J  56  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

"Bobton,  Jan.  Oil,  1828. 

"  I  have  do  objection,  dear  Septiniia,  to  your  going 
to  this  party,  and  will  return  an  answer  of  acceptance 
for  you.  Mrs.  Stearns  will  be  so  kind  as  to  have  a 
place  taken  for  you  in  the  Monday  morning  stage,  and 
we  will  return  together  on  Thursday  to  dinner  or  tea. 
as  we  see  fit.  Pray  send  a  special  invitation  to  the  beau 
t  if  ill  rose  to  come  aod  shed  its  sweetDess  in  the  more 
genial  clime  of  our  little  pleasant  room,  instead  of  wasting 
it  in  a  cold  cellar.  Tell  Mrs.  Stearns  I  should  not  have 
expected  such  inhospitable  treatment  to  a  dog-iose,  much 
less  to  this  frail  and  beautiful  exotic.  It  is  really 
strange  when  Ponto  and  the  cat  can  sport  in  the  light 
and  warmth  of  her  entry,  and  even  occasionally  in- 
trude into  her  parlor,  that  this  elegant  child  of  Flora 
should  be  consigned  to  a  dreary,  cold  cellar.  Invite 
her,  by  all  means,  to  our  chamber,  and  let  her  be  sec- 
ond only  to  the  lily.  Give  the  wall-flower  to  under- 
stand that  I  expect  her  to  do  the  honors  of  our  domi- 
cile in  such  a  style  as  not  to  discredit  her  native  State, 
and  present  me  kindly  to  the  whole  family,  including 
the  mignionettes,  if  they  are  still  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

u  Adieu,  my  dear  daughter.  Remember  me  most 
affectionately  to  Mrs.  StearDS  and  the  girls,  and  burn 
this  foolish  note  as  soon  as  you  have  read  it.  Your 
affectionate  mother,  M.  R." 

"  Boston.  Doc  9tli,  1832. 

~  I  have  staid  from  church,  dear  Septimia,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  answering  your  letter.  I  am  not  sur- 
prised at  your  predilection  for  the  Catholic  faith  at 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  157   . 

your  age  '  I  believed  most  religiously  that  it  waa  the 
only  road  to  heaven,  and  looked  forward  with  fear  and 
terror  to  the  possibility  of  never  again  having  it  m  my 
power  to    confess  myself   a  member  of   that  church 
which  I  believed  the  true  and  original  one.     My  affec- 
tion for  my  father  prevented  my  taking  any  steps  at 
so  early  an  age  without  his  approbation.     He  asked 
of  me  what  I  ask  of  you :    do  nothing  precipitately. 
If,  after  your  judgment  is  matured,  you  find  it  neces- 
sary for  your  happiness  to  embrace  the  Catholic  faith, 
you  will' find  no  opposition  from  me.     But  at  your  age 
the  imagination  and  our  fears  are  all  alive,  and  the 
judoTnent,  which  depends  upon  experience  and  reflec- 
tion, is  entirely  unfounded.     Listen  to  the  arguments 
on  both  sides  without  fear ;  knowing,  as  you  do,  your 
own  sincerity  in  the  search  of  truth;  wait  a  few  years 
till  yon  see  what  the  result  will  be,  and  then  decide 
according  to  your  conscience.     Confession  I  do  not  ob- 
ject to,  because  the'self-examination  to  which  it  obliges 
as,  leads  to  a  knowledge  of  ourself,  the  more  rigid  as 
we  dare  not  admit  vanity  or  pride  to  bias  the  true  and 
sincere  exposition  which  we  must  humble  ourselves  to 
make,  without  indulgence  or  partiality  to  our  weak- 
nesses.     And  that  thorough  examination  and  knowl- 
edge of  self  to  which  it  leads,  enables  us  to  be  upon 
our  guard  to  watch  and  correct  our  besetting  sin. 

"But  I  acknowledge  that  I  see  nothing  of  it  in  the 
Bible.  Of  course  that  is  one  of  the  additions^  to 
Christ's  original  doctrines.  A  belief  in  the  Trinity, 
which  we  think  was  no  doctrine  of  his,  but  added  by 
one  of  the  councils  300  years  after  him,  is  essential  to 


15^  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    DOUSE. 

the  most  monstrous  article  of  their  creed.*  the  trait 
substantiation.  What  a  degrading  idea  of  the  Al- 
mighty  Creator  and  Euler  of  the  Universe,  to  suppose 
that  he  would  transform  himself  into  a  little  bit  of 
n  and  digested  by  1/  ures.     And. 

although  there  is  but  one  God,  ret  most  assuredly,  ac- 
cording to  their  belief,  every  communion  day  there 
must  be  thousands,  for  all  over  the  world  where  Cath- 
olics are  taking  it,  each  has  his  own  God  Father,  Son, 
Holy  Ghost,  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour 
along  with  it,  in  his  stomach  at  the  same  time.  And 
of  what  use  is  such  a  miracle,  if  it  were  possible  \ 
Those  who  do  not  believe  in  it  are  equally  followers  ot 
Christ,  and  eat  the  bread  in  rem :  .  '  the  last 

supper  which  he  took  with  his  apostles.  His  miracles 
had  all  some  definite  purpose.     H  ight  to  the 

blind,  restored  the  use  of  their  limbs  to  the  cripples. 
and  raised  the  dead  from  the  tomb,  in  presence  of 
thousands,  that,  seeing  his  sufi  .  iral  powers, 
they  might  know  that  his  mission  >.ine  one. 

They  saw  those  miracles  with  their  ind  there 

was  a  reason  for  them.  But  when  the  Catholic  priest 
tells  us  that  he  has  convened  a  chalice  full  of  waters 
into  so  many  Gods,  we  have  only  his  word  for  it,  for 
to  our  eyes  they  are  still  but  waters :  and  for  what  has 
he  done,  this  miracle, — that,  like  cannibals,  we  nrigL~ 
our  God  \  The  idea  to  me  is  not  only  absurd  and  dis- 
gusting, but  absolutely  blasphemous :  and  we  can  only 
receive  it  in  our  minds  by  rifice  of  reason  and 

common  sense.  Those  who  are  brought  up  in  that 
opinion  from  their  infancy,  when  impressions  are  deep 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  159 

»st,  and  wlio  are  taught  that  it  is  injurious  to  reason 
upon  the  subject,  that  every  doubt  is  a  temptation  of 
Satan,  are  afraid  to  use  the  reason  that  God  has  given 
them.  Their  purgatory  is  a  rational  modification  of 
hell,  where  the  punishment  is  said  to  be  eternal ;  but 
still  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  there  is  no  authority  for 
it  in  the  iSTew  Testament.  The  Catholics  say  that 
theirs  is  the  true  faith,  to  which  Christ  made  the  prom- 
ise '  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
her.'  If  we  take  the  promise  on  a  broader  basis,  and 
suppose  it  to  be  made  to  the  Christian  religion  at  large, 
of  which  the  Catholic  is  only  a  sect,  it  is  much  more 
conformable  to  reason ;  for  certainly  the  Catholics  have 
added  so  much  to  the  single  doctrines  of  Christ  that  it 
bears  very  little  resemblance  to  the  original  system  as 
we  find  it  in  the  New  Testament,  which  is  the  basis 
upon  which  every  sect  has  built  up  a  code  according 
to  the  character  of  their  reformer,  or  other  circum- 
sfcances.  A  straight-forward  sincerity  in  our  opinions, 
or,  if  they  are  unsettled,  a  sincere  desire  for  truth,  is 
all  that  is  required  of  us  as  to  faith.  Strict  morality, 
the  control  of  our  passions,  is  equally  a  part  of  religion, 
designated  by  the  term  '  good  works.' 

"  Mr.  Greenwood  said  very  justly,  that  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  religion  without  morality ;  that  '  reli- 
gion was  virtue,  and  virtue  was  religion.1  If  we  are 
in  error,  after  having  done  everything  in  our  power  to 
come  at  the  truth,  we  cannot  in  common  sense  believe 
that  a  just  God  will  punish  us  for  the  weakness  of  an 
understanding  which  He  himself  gave  us,  and  which  we 
make  the  best  use  of  accordiug  to  our  powers.     If  we 


160  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

seek  not  to  flatter  or  deceive  ourselves,  He  will  never 
punish  us  for  the  want  of  that  judgment  which  He 
alone  could  give  us.  I  think  it  is  a  duty  to  cultivate 
the  talents  he  has  given  us,  and  to  improve  them  by 
reading  and  other  means.  But  infallibility  is  not  de 
manded  of  short-sighted,  imperfect  beings  like  us. 
Let  us  feel  that  we  have  acted  to  the  best  of  our  judg- 
ment, and  rest  assured  that  nothing  more  can  be  re- 
quired of  us.  I  have  written  you  a  hurried  scrawl, 
dear  Septimia,  upon  a  very  important  subject,  but  it  is 
better  to  send  this  than  run  the  risk  of  losing  the  op- 
portunity -by  copying  it  over  and  methodizing  what  I 
have  said.  I  write  as  I  speak,  but  repetitions  and  in- 
correct modes  of  expression  which  do  not  strike  us  in 
conversation,  make  a  bad  appearance  on  paper.  How- 
ever, I  write  not  for  the  critic,  but  for  my  dear  chil- 
dren, who  will  excuse  inelegancies  of  expression  and 
carelessness  of  diction.  I  will  still  repeat  what  I  said 
in  the  beginning  of  my  letter :  if,  after  a  few  years, 
you  still  persevere,  I  shall  not  oppose  any  step  that 
your  mature  judgment  may  approve,  and  no  difference 
of  opinion  can  diminish  the  love  I  shall  always  feel  for 
you  ;  and  if,  as  our  Saviour  says  '  In  my  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions1 — so  must  there  be  many  roads 
leading  to  that  house. 

"  Xow,  with  regard  to  Mi's. ,  she  has  been  uni- 
formly kind  and  attentive  to  us.  She  may  deserve 
what  the  world  says  of  her,  but  I  would  not  be  the 
one  to  'cast  the  first  stone.''  I  never  would  take  the 
lead  in  hunting  a  fellow-creature  out  of  society,  and 
making  desperate  one  who  may  yet  recover.     I  would 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE.  161 

certainly  visit  her,  and  very  particularly  Mrs.  *  *  * 
I  am  bound  to  South  Carolina  in  gratitude  for  every 
thing  of  comfort  we  possess.  If  her  political  opinions 
are  wrong,  I  am  sorry  for  it;  but  our  concern  is  with 
her  kind  acts  to  us,  not  her  defective   politics.     Old 

Mrs. also,  I  think,  the  girls  should  visit.     Mra 

W.,  they  will,  of  course  ;  and  when  they  do  visit  any 
friends  of  mine,  particularly  those  I  have  mentioned, 
I  wish  to  be  kindly  and  respectfully  mentioned  to 
them. 

"  E.  says  I  must  tell  you  that  at  fifteen,  she,  too,  had 
strong  notions  of  Catholicism,  but  that  slie  has  out- 
grown them  all." 

"  Boarov,  January  31st,  1SS3. 

"  I  wrote  so  often  last  week,  dear  Septimia,  that  I 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  be  so  very  punctual  this 
time  as  I  generally  am.  My  health  is  so  good  at  pres- 
ent that  you  need  be  under  no  apprehension  on  that 
score.  I  had,  as  Mrs.  Troll  ope  would  say,  '  pretty  con- 
siderable of  headache '  and  pain  in  the  face  last  week, 
but  I  went  to  two  evening  parties  in  the  rain,  and  it 
cured  me.  One  at  Mrs.  G/s  was  a  complete  take  in. 
She  asked  E.  and  myself  to  meet  Mrs.  S.  P.  G.  and  her 
family,  and  no  one  else  was  either  '  expressed  or  un- 
derstood.' E.  was  unwell,  and  as  Mrs.  G.  had  repeat- 
edly pressed  us  to  take  tea  in  a  sociable  way  with  her, 
I  went,  when  to  my  surprise  I  found  the  room  fill  by 
degrees,  and  we  had  a  party  of  between  thirty  and 
forty  persons,  mostly  strangers.  The  next  night  w5s 
to  Mrs.  S.  S.'s,  who,  as  well  as  the  Colonel,  has  been 
11 


162  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE 

so  civil  to  me,  and  lias  asked  us  so  often,  that  I  did  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  refuse.     I  met  Mde.  Audubon,  wait- 
ing for  some  acquaintance  to  go  in  with,  having,  as 
well  as  myself,  come  alone,  and  we  went  in  together. 
a  very  much  pleased  with  her,  and  the  pleasure,  or 
rather  one  of  the  pleasures,  in  visiting  her,  is,  that  we 
admitted  into  the  room  where  her  husband  and 
re  painting  and  working  upon  their  birds — which 
..    assures  me  does  not  disturb  them. 

■sJ  •&  •5r  -5J  •£• 

•■  I  prefer  very  much  the  forms  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  for,  at  least,  the  service  cant  be  destroyed.  I 
admit  that  the   Catholic  Church  has  some  most  com- 

able  doctrines,  if  you,  can  believe  them:  but  there  is 
the  difficulty.  Without  giving  up  your  reason,  which 
has  given  us  as  a  guide  through  life,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  believe  in  the  transubstantiation.  Xeither 
can  rational  beings  believe  that  the  prayer  and  fasting 
of  one  person  can  atone  for  the  sins  of  another.  Bring- 
ing the  doctrine  home  to  yourself — if  vou  should  have 
.  your  life  in  vice  and  crime,  and  upon  your 
-la  whole  convent  of  priests  should  tell  you, 
;'  die  in  peace,  my  daughter;  though  your  life  has  been 
a  tissue  of  crimes  of  the  blackest  in  the  catalogue  of 
human  depravity,  we  will  give  you  absolution,  and  we 
will  -  y  -  j  many  prayers  and  masses  for  you  that  you 
will  escape  the  punishment  which  your  crimes  have 
deserved," — could  you  believe  them?  Or  can  you 
bring  your  mind  to  believe  for  one  moment  that  the 
Almighty  would  give  up  his  judgment-seat  to  a  short- 
.-red  mortal?     Believe  me,  dear  S..  that  he  only 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  163 

who  made  you,  and  knows  exactly  in  what  propor- 
tions the  good  and  the  bad  are  compounded,  and  the 
strength  to  resist,  or  the  weakness  of  a  poor  imperfect 
being,  can  judge  truly  of  the  degree  of  merit  or  sin. 
The  more  difficulty  we  find  in  subduing  our  passions, 
the  more  merit.  A  quiet  person,  whose  propensities 
to  error  are  weak,  deserves  much  less  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Father  than  one  in  whom  he  himself  has  implanted 
stronger  passions,  and  who  has  overcome  them  by 
dint  of  struggling ;  although  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
the  most  quiet  wTill  be  deemed  the  most  meritorious. 
Those  things  must  be  between  ourselves  and  our  Mak- 
er. He  alone  can  appreciate  the  efforts  of  the  weak 
and  erring,  or  know  how  much  or  how  little  trouble 
those  in  whom  he  has  implanted  weak  passions  have 
taken  not  to  subdue  them,  but  to  stimulate  their  quiet 
and  indolent  tempers  to  the  performance  of  active  vir- 
tue. A  knowledge  of  our  own  imperfections  ought  to 
make  us  indulgent  to  others  whose  difficulties  are  not 
the  less  great  for  being  of  a  different  description. 
Self-knowledge  should  teach  us  humility,  and  our  igno- 
rance of  others,  charity. 

"  But  it  is  a  hard  case  to  send  you  a  sermon,  and  an 
ill  written  one,  instead  of  a  letter  that  would,  or  ought 
to,  enliven  you  with  the  news  of  the  gay  and  fashionable 
world,  of  which,  however,  I  am  no  longer  a  member.1' 

"  Boston,  January  18th,  183G. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,  dear  Septimia,  how  delighted  I 
was  to  hear  from  you,  and  how  much  amusement,  as 
well  as  pleasure,  your  letter  afforded  us.    We  received 


164  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

tt  Saturday  night,  and  Sunday  your  sister  told  the 
news  at  church,  and  some  of  your  friends,  amongst 
others  Susan,  came  in  to  learn  the  particulars  of  your 
journey ;  your  struggle  with  your  fat  neighbor  to  pre- 
vent his  throwing  himself  under  the  wheels  while  the 
hoi-ses  were  running,  diverted  Susan  and  Mr.  L.  exces- 
sively. He  said  it  was  a  scene  for  a  painter ;  and  I  am 
commissioned  to  ask  you  whether  it  was  consideration 
for  him,  or  the  selfish  feelings  so  elegantly  expressed 
by  '  company  in  distress  makes  sorrow  the  less,1  which 
induced  you  to  cling  to  him  so  pertinaciously,  and,  it 
appears,  so  much  against  his  will,  although  most  prob- 
ably you  saved  his  life  by  so  doing.  I  am  very  glad 
to  hear  that  you  are  with  Mr.  Willis  ;  out  of  your  own 
family  you  could  be  nowhere  more  to  my  satisfaction. 
Mr.  Willis  is  a  most  excellent,  kind-hearted  man,  and 
besides  the  connection  between  the  families  by  the 
marriage  of  his  son  to  two  of  your  cousins  successive- 
ly, he  served  a  campaign  under  your  father,*  and  was 
a  great  favorite  of  his.  He  is  also  well  acquainted 
with  many  members  of  the  family.  You  remember 
the  first  time  we  returned  to  Virginia,  he  was  in  the 
boat  with  us,  and  Cornelia  made  a  blind  for  his  eye, 
that  was  very  much  inflamed.  So  if  you  find  that 
you  are  not  in  the  way,  and  I  cannot  conceive  how  you 
should  be,  make  yourself  easy  till  you  can  finish  your 
journey,  which  I  hope  the  vicinity  of  our  squadron 
will  render  safe. 

"  The  climate  of  Pensacola  is  a  divine  one.     Here, 

« 

*  In  Canada,  during  the  war  of  1812. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  165 

we  have  never  seen  the  face  of  the  earth  since  the  23d 
of  November,  and  at  present  we  have  a  fresh  fall  of 
from  six  to  eight  inches  of  snow  to  cleanse  the  old, 
which  was  getting  to  be  very  dirty,  dripping  enough 
from  the  eaves  of  the  houses  to  make  the  side-walks 
sheets  of  ice,  with  an  occasional  avalanche  to  knock 
you  down  by  way  of  variety ;  and  the  thermometer 
the  night  before  last,  and  the  night  before  that,  was  at 
8°  above  zero.  People  have  scrambled  and  slipped 
and  plunged  and  tumbled  down  as  usual,  but  as  to 
walking,  no  one  aspires  to  that  commodious  and  grace- 
ful mode  of  proceeding ;  too  happy  to  get  to  your 
journey's  end  without  destroying  your  dress  or  break- 
ing your  bones  at  the  least.  Yet  except  some  dread- 
ful spells  just  after  you  left  us,  the  winter  has  not  been 
a  very  hard  one ;  it  is  true,  we  never  set  eyes  upon  the 
sun,  but  that  here  is  a  mere  circumstance. 

"lam  so  elad  vou  went  to  Pensacola  instead  of 
Tallahassee.  In  the  first  place,  the  climate  is  far  pre- 
ferable ;  you  are  much  better  where  you  are.  Show  the 
kind  friends  with  whom  you  are  staying  a  cheerful 
countenance  and  grateful  temper,  and,  above  all,  dear 
Septimia,  remember  that  you  are  under  the  protection 
of  a  Father,  sleeping  or  waking,  who  never  for  a 
moment  forgets  or  loses  sight  of  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  Him,  and  that  however  far  and  wide  things 
may  deviate  from  our  calculations  and  plans,  they  will 
be  more  wisely  ordered,  and  eventually  will  turn  out 
for  the  best.  You  will  not  have  much  opportunity 
for  reading,  but  yon  may  do  much  with  your  music  if 
there  is  a  piano  in  the  house,  and  at  any  rate  with  yom 


1G6  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

guitar.  I  will  send  yon,  if  I  have  an  opportunity,  a 
beautiful  son  g  suited  to  your  voice,  called  '  The  Angels* 
Whisper.'  it  has  a  great  run  here,  and  has  lately  been 
reprinted.  There  is  a  phrenologist  in  town  to  whom 
Ellen,  Mary.  Mr.  Lane,  and  Mr.  Heard,  with  many 
there,  have  been,  and  his  reports  have  really  been 
wonderful.  Susan  came  to-day  for  Ellen  to  go  with 
her ;  she  is  very  full  of  it — how  I  wish  you  were  here 
to  go  also.  I  would  give  a  great  deal  to  have  my 
opinion  confirmed  by  a  man  who  goes  to  work  so  sci- 

fically.  He  says  that  a  small  organ  kept  in  con- 
stant exercise  will  produce  greater  effect  than  one  more 
fully  developed  that  is  neglected  ;  so  you  see,  Miss,  if 
your  memory  is  small,  exercise  will  strengthen  it.  Ql 
in  reading  I  do  not  understand  what  I  read,  in  fact,  it 
makes  no  impn  Bsi<  □  upon  my  brain;  but  reading  it  over 
perhaps  nee,  i >r  twice,  or  even  more  times,  the  ideas 
arrange  themselves  in  such  beautiful  orckr,  so  clear,  so 

inct,  that  I  know  it  is  nothing  but  the  loss  of  my 
memory  which  has  occasioned  the  difficulty  at  first 
•  A  word  to  the  wise.*  so  '  go  thou  and  do  like- 

••  You  have  a  whole  cargo  of  letters  directed  to  Dori- 

:  nville.  that  I  know  of,  and  no  doubt  some  from 

Virginia  that  I  do  not.     Eden  wrote  you  a  long  letter 

full  of  news  and  gossip,  I  have  written  two  besides 

this,   and  Susan  wrote  to  you  ;  write  to  her  without 

receive  her  letter.     In  scenes  so  new  and 

age  you  cannot  be  at  a  loss  for  material,  and  trav- 
elling certainly  does  expand  the  mind  ;  it  gives  it  ideas, 
even  poetical  ones  :  but  reading  and  good  society  must 
furnish  language  worthy  of  them,  else  we  can  not  do 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  167 

justice  to  our  own  minds.  Ideas,  in  themselves  beaut> 
ful  and  original,  are  frequently  so  mangled  and  muti- 
lated by  inadequate  expressions  of  them,  in  language 
inappropriate,  that  we  can  never  make  our  strength 
known,  from  the  impossibility  of  doing  justice  to  our 
own  conceptions.  I  am  sorry  I  have  mislaid  my  close 
lines,  for  my  paper  is  drawing  to  a  close,  and  I  have 
yet  much  to  say ;  but  I  must  still  repeat,  make  your- 
self easy  in  your  present  residence.  They  are  Vir- 
ginians, whose  hospitality  is  drawn  in  with  their 
mothers1  milk ;  and  how  often  have  wre,  dear  Septimia, 
asked  strangers  to  our  house  who  have  staid  witli  us, 
not  weeks,  but  months,  and  even  years ;  yet  when 
they  were  amiable  we  have  often  deeply  regretted 
their  departure ;  and  this  not  of  solitary  individuals, 
but  families. 

"  Mary  will  write  to  you  next  week ;  she  would  have 
done  so  sooner,  but  that  I  have  written  every  week  for 
the  last  three.  I  hope  you  will  get  the  letters;  it 
would  be  a  pity  to  lose  so  much  news,  gossip,  advice, 
and  other  interesting  and  valuable  matter.  With 
regard  to  Mrs.  E. — 'In  Turkey  you  know  you  must  do 
as  the  turkeys  do.'     You  know  the  quotation. 

"  Cornelia  was  still  with  Mrs.  Madison  when  I  heard 
from  her,  the  7th.  Mr.  M.  is  much  as  usual;  sinking 
by  imperceptible  degrees.  He  is  so  feeble  that  he  can 
just  walk.  I  think  that  when  she  loses  him,  she  will 
probably  remove  to  Washington. 

"  Adieu !  Write  often  and  fully,  to  me  as  careless- 
lessly  as  you  please ;  but  to  correspondents  out  of  the 
family  be  more  careful  not  to  mix  the  subjects  higglety* 


163  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

pigglety  like  a  rnince  pie,  but  give  to  each  distinct  and 
separate  places,  not  bringing  in  the  '  pig-tail '  at  every 
other  line.  To  me,  dear  child,  write  as  carelessly  as 
you  please ;  tell  me  every  thing  that  concerns  you,  and 
how  you  will;  every  thing  about  you  interests  and 
amuses  me ;  if  you  stay  to  arrange  your  periods  and 
smooth  your  style,  you  will  neither  have  time  nor  in- 
clination to  write  as  long  letters  as  you  can  when  you 
let  your  pen,  like  your  tongue,  run  on  its  own  way.  God 
bless  you,  and  preserve  you  to  your  owti  devoted 
mother.  Say  every  thing  that  is  kind  and  respectful 
from  me  to  Mr.  and  Miss  Willis  ;  thank  them  from  me 
for  harboring  you  in  your  distress,  for  I  do  not  know 
what  your  situation  would  have  been  in  a  land  of 
strangers,  but  for  their  kind  attention  in  offering  you 
an  asylum.     Once  more  adieu." 

"  My  mother  survived  her  father  upward  of  ten 
years,  and  her  husband  about  eight  years ;  during  that 
period  losing  a  grown  son,  James  Madison  Randolph, 
born  in  the  President's  House. 

':  In  the  autumn  after  my  grandfather's  death,  she 
went  to  Boston,  and  passed  the  winter  in  the  house  of 
her  son-in-law,  Mr.  Joseph  Coolidge,  of  that  city,  hav- 
ing with  her  the  two  youngest  children,  Septimia  and 
George  Wythe,  who  went  to  day  schools  during  that 
winter.  Septimia  was  the  only  one  of  her  daughters 
who  ever  went  to  school  at  all ;  my  other  sisters  and  my- 
self having  our  education  conducted  by  our  mother ; 
she  being  our  only  teacher,  assisted  somewhat  by  her 
lather.      The  following  summer  she  accompanied  my 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  169 

sister,  Mrs.  Coolidge,  to  Cambridge,  where  the  twc 
children  again  attended  day-schools.  My  eldest  "broth 
er,  Mr.  Jefferson  Randolph,  was  his  grandfather's  ex 
ecutor;  he  had  been  in  all  business  affairs  the  staff  ot 
his  declining  years,  and  afterward  became  a  father  to 
his  younger  brothers.  The  sale  of  furniture,  pictures, 
and  other  movables  at  Monticello  took  place  the  win- 
ter following  my  grandfather's  death,  after  my  mother's 
departure  for  Boston.  The  rest  of  the  family  passed 
that  winter  in  my  brother's  house,  then  the  ensuing 
summer  at  Monticello,  a  purchaser  for  which  could  not 
be  found  until  two  years  or  more  after.  My  mother 
remained  in  Cambridge  the  second  winter,  as  a  board- 
er, with  her  two  children,  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Stearns, 
law-professor  of  Harvard  College,  to  whose  excellent 
family  she  became  much  attached. 

"  My  sister  Cornelia  went  to  join  her  in  Cambridge, 
and  the  two  were  alternately  in  Boston  and  Cambridge, 
the  one  with  Mrs.  Coolidge,  and  the  other  with  the 
children. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1828,  my  mother  returned  to 
Monticello,  accompanied  by  Cornelia  and  Septimia, 
leaving  my  brother  at  a  boarding  school  in  the  country 
near  Cambridge.  This  being  their  first  separation, 
it  was  felt  most  acutely  on  both  sides,  for  he,  just 
ten  years  old,  was  an  unusually  sensitive  and  warm- 
hearted boy,  and  as  the  'youngling  of  her  flock,'  was 
the  darling;  of  her  heart.  He  was  to  remain  behind 
among  strangers,  whilst  his  mother,  the  object  of  his 
passionate  fondness  and  devoted  attachment,  was  to 
return  without  him  to  that  dear  old  home  he  so  well 


I  ~  .  LADIES    01    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

Land  ]  veA.     My  mother,  on  her  return  to 
::  rilo  after  an  absence  of  eighteen  months,  found 
my  lath  i  ill.  He  1  m  a  part  of  the  previous 

winter  in  Georgia,  engaged  as  commissi  r  on  the 
part  of  the  Unite  I  States  in  esfcal  listing  a  boundary 
line  between  the  and  Florida.     His  letters  spoke 

of  L'_  Ing  the  climate,  and  he  enjoyed  also  the 

opportunities  which  he  there  found  of  gratifying  his 
fondness  for  botanical  stndi  :  but  he  returned  home 
in  very  bad  health,  and  after  a  few  months  of  se- 
vere suffer::,  lied  on  the  20th  of  June,  1  ■_ 
in  hia  sixtieth  year.  Monticello  was  sold  the  fol- 
lowing winter.  My  mother  took  leave  of  her  beloved 
home  in  December — that  home  which  had  been  the 
scene  of  her  happv:  bene  she  had  err 

her  dear  fat:,  i  -  ty,  and  been  the  solace  of  his 
age;  her  children  had   been,   most   of  them, 

born  and  grown  up  around  her,  and  where  her  own 
y  childhood  had  1  re  the  death  of 

:  mother. 
She  reniov  ifch  her  family  to  the  house  of  her 
son  Jefferson.  My  mother  lived  a  year  with  mv 
brother's  family,  during  which  time  she  formed  a  plan 
f  keeping  -  ..  I  for  young  ladies,  assisted  by  her 
unmarried  daugl  who  were  to  be  teachers  under 
her  superintendeL-Cr.     ]  .   however,  ren- 

dered unnecessary  by  the  donations  so  generously 
made  her  by  the  States  of  South  Carolina  and  Louisi- 
ana, :  $1  .  each.  About  this  time,  also  Mr.  Ciay, 
A  aS    retary  «:  I  .  prompted  by  the  wish  to  do 

something  in  ai:;    .:  Mr.  Jefferson's  daughter,  offered 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    H0F3E.  171 

to  my  husband,  who  had  just  then  commenced  the 
practice  of  the  law,  one  of  the  higher  clerkships  in  the' 
State  Department,  wTith  a  salary  of  $1,400.  This  offer 
was  accepted  by  him,  with  the  understanding  that  my 
mother  and  sisters  would  go  with  us  to  live  in  Wash- 
ington as  one  family.  In  the  autumn  of  1829,  we  bade 
adieu  to  our  native  mountains,  and  removed  to  Wash- 
ington. We  occupied  a  small  house  with  a  pretty 
garden,  pleasantly  situated,  where  we  lived  together, 
forming  one  family,  consisting  of  seven  grown  persons 
and  four  children,  the  two  youngest  being  my  own, 
and  the  other  two  orphans  of  my  eldest  sister,  wrho 
had  been  taken  by  their  grandmother  to  her  home  at 
Monticello  while  her  father  was  still  living. 

"  Upon  her  arrival  in  Washington,  my  mother  wras 
visited  by  every  body,  and  received  the  most  marked 
attentions.  The  President  and  the  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments called  upon  her ;  the  lady  of  the  White  House 
of  that  day,  Mrs.  Donelson,  and  the  wives  of  the  cab- 
inet ministers  laid  aside  etiquette,  and  paid  her  the 
respect  of  a  first  call. 

"  G-eneral  Jackson,  during  the  whole  time  of  her  res- 
idence  in  Washing-ton,  never  omitted  making  her  a 
visit  once  a  year,  accompanied  usually  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  As  a  tribute  to  her  father's  memory, 
these  marks  of  respect  were  peculiarly  gratifying.  Her 
disposition  was  naturally  cheerful  and  social,  though 
she  w7as  not  dependent  on  society  for  happiness.  Her 
habits  of  regular  occupation,  possessing  as  she  did 
various  tastes,  the  cultivation  of  which  afforded  her 
variety,  and  increased  her  interest  in  life;  and  sur- 


172  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

rounded  as  she  was  by  a  large,  cheerful  family  circle, 
she  lived  contentedly  in  the  country,  even  during  the 
winters  at  Monticello,  which  were  seldom  enlivened  by 
visitors.  That  season  was  devoted  principally  to  the 
education  of  her  children ;  the  constant  crowTds  of  vis- 
itors during  the  rest  of  the  year  leaving  her  very  little 
time  not  engrossed  by  household  cares,  arising  from  the 
duties  of  hospitality. 

"  During  the  years  which  she  passed  in  Washington, 
she  resumed  many  of  her  old  occupations ;  her  taste 
for  flowers  revived,  and  good  music  afforded  her  en- 
joyment, although  she  no  longer  played  much  herself 
after  my  grandfather's  death.  Her  habits  of  reading 
she  never  lost,  and  she  always  began  the  day  with 
some  chapter  of  the  New  Testament.  She  was  an 
early  riser  in  summer  and  in  Avinter.  She  liked  an 
east  window  in  her  bedroom,  because  it  enabled  her 
to  read  in  bed  before  the  household  were  stirring. 
Every  year  she  visited  alternately  my  elder  brother  at 
his  residence  near  Monticello,  in  the  southwest  moun- 
tains of  Virginia,  or  my  sister,  Mrs.  Joseph  Coolidge, 
in  Boston. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1831  she  was  called  on  to  make 
a  painful  sacrifice,  such  as  mothers  only  can  appreci- 
ate— she  gave  her  consent  to  George's  entering  the  na- 
vy, After  passing  a  winter  with  her  in  Washington, 
he  had  entered  a  school  near  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, when  a  midshipman's  warrant  was  procured  for 
him.     At  his  boarding-school  in  Massachusetts,  his  con- 

O  7 

duct  had  gained  for  him  the  respect,  confidence,  and 
good-will  of  all,  teachers  and  associates ;  but  he  was 


LADIES   OF   THE   WHITE   HOUSE.  173 

yet  a  mere  child,  and  his  mother's  heart  sickened  at  the 
thought  of  his  going  forth  alone  to  encounter  the  naval 
perils  as  well  as  brave  the  hardships  of  a  sea-faring 
life  She  had,  however,  the  fortitude  to  approve  of 
what  was  judged  best  for  his  future,  and  her  sorrow 
was  borne  with  the  patient  and  cheerful  resignation 
which  belonged  to  her  character. 

"The  recollection  of  that  parting  as  a  trial  for  her, 
stirs  up,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  the  long  dormant 
feelino-s  which  I  thought  my  last  tear  had  been  shed 
for     You,  dear  madam,  will  excuse  this  revival  ot  in- 
cidents not  required  for  your  sketch,  and  will  use  such 
things  only  as  may  have  an  interest  for  the  public. 
His  "first  cruise  lasted  eighteen  months,  in  the  U.  fc. 
ship  John  Adams,  which  went  up  the  Mediterranean 
as  far  as  Constantinople  ;  and  one  of  its  incidents  was 
the  breaking  out  of  the  cholera  on  board.     He  got 
back  to  us  safely,  however,  and  my  mother  was  reward- 
ed for  her  sufferings  by  the  encomiums  elicited  by  his 
conduct  and  character  from  the  officers  under  whom  he 
had  served,  and  their  predictions  as  to  the  useful  and 
honorable  career  which  lay  before  him.     She  continued 
to  hear  him  highly  spoken  of,  and  to  learn  that  he  was 
respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  that  his  leisure 
hours  on  board  the  ship  were  devoted  to  reading  and 
study.     In  the  interval  between  his  cruises,  he  was  to 
stay  with  her  in  Washington. 

« In  the  second  year  of  her  residence  there,  she  had 
the  happiness  of  having  my  brother  Lewis  another  of 
her  younger  children,  added  to  her  family.  He  ob- 
tained  a  clerkship,  which  afforded  him  a  post  whilst 


174  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

he  was  qualifying  himself  for  the  practice  of  the  law, 
and  he  remained  with  us  until  his  marriage,  which  took 
place  a  few  years  later.  He  was  highly  gifted,  remark- 
ably handsome,  and  shone  in  the  social  circle,  but  never 
formed  one  of  the  idle  throng  always  to  be  found  in 
cities.  Very  domestic  in  his  tastes  and  habits,  his  lei- 
sure hours  were  divided  between  his  professional 
studies  and  associates  belonodns;  to  the  circle  in  which 
his  family  moved.  He  married  Miss  Martin,  a  niece 
of  Mrs.  Donelson,  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  at 
the  '  White  House,'  where  she  was  staying.  He  then 
moved  to  the  young  state  of  Arkansas,  where  a  promising 
career  at  the  bar  was  cut  short  by  an  early  death  from 
congestive  fever,  less  than  a  year  after  iiis  mother's  death. 
"  In  the  summer  of  1832,  my  mother  parted  with  the 
orphan  grand-daughter,  Ellen  Bankhead,  whom  she 
had  adopted,  and  who,  being  then  married  to  Mr.  John 
Carter  of  Albemarle,  returned  to  live  on  his  estate 
in  his  native  mountains,  and  among  the  scenes  of  her 
childhood.  Willie,  her  little  orphan  brother,  was 
about  that  time  claimed  by  his  paternal  grandfather, 
and  placed  at  a  day-school  near  him.  In  the  following 
spring,  Mr.  Trist  purchased  a  house  into  which  we  all 
moved.  I  think  my  mother  felt  more  at  home  in  this 
pleasant,  new  abode  than  she  had  ever  done  since  leav- 
ing Monticello.  The  house  had  been  built  by  Mr. 
Richard  Rush,  our  Minister  to  England  for  many  years, 
and  when  we  first  moved  to  Washington,  was  occupied 
by  this  gentleman  and  his  lovely  wife  and  family.  It 
was  a  spacious  dwelling,  admirably  planned  and  built, 
with  a  large  garden  and  out-buildings,  the  whole  en 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  175 

closed  by  a  high  brick  wall.  There  the  last  three 
years  of  my  mother's  life  were  spent,  although  her 
death  took  place  suddenly  at  Edgehill,  my  brother's 
residence  in  Virginia. 

"  The  winter  preceding  bad  been  marked  by  the 
death  of  my  brother,  James  Madison  Randolph,  who 
had  just  completed  his  27th  year.  He  was  buried  at 
Monticello  on  a  cold  day  in  January.  I  remember  the 
negroes  assembled  there,  and  made  a  fire  to  keep  them 
warm  while  they  waited  for  the  procession  which  fol- 
lowed him  to  his  early  grave,  who,  they  said,  was  the 
'  black  man's  friend,'  and  would  have  shared  his  last 
cent  with  one  of  them.  At  the  time  of  our  removal 
to  that  pleasant  new  home,  my  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
Joseph  Coolidge,  of  Boston,  having  gone  to  China, 
was  engaged  in  business  in  Canton  ;  his  family  remain- 
ing in  Boston.  In  the  summer  of  1834,  and  during 
the  absence  of  her  husband,  my  sister  paid  \u  a  visit, 
passing  the  summer  in  Virginia  at  my  brother's,  and  the 
following  winter  with  us  in  Washington.  On  that  oc- 
casion,  my  mother  had  all  her  daughters  with  her  for 
the  last  time ;  and  LewTis,  yet  unmarried,  was  still  liv- 
ing with  her.  The  season  was  remarkable  for  its  se- 
verity,  the  thermometer  falling  so  low  as  16°  below 
zero,  on  a  gallery  with  a  southern  exposure  of  our 
house,  and  so  late  even  as  the  1st  day  of  March,  stood 
at  zero — the  snow  a  foot  deep  in  the  garden.  Soon  af- 
ter the  purchase  of  that  house,  Mr.  Trist,  whose  health 
had  been  very  delicate,  was  appointed  by  General 
Jackson  to  be  United,  States  Consul  at  Havana,  which 
post  had  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Shaler, 


J  76  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

long  distinguished  as  our  Consul  at  Algiers.  He  pro- 
ceeded there  alone,  and  in  the  summer  returned  to 
Washington.  After  remaining  with  us  a  few  months, 
he  again  went  to  Havana  alone  to  pass  one  more  win 
ter  there,  and  then  return  to  take  charge  of  the  office 
of  First  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  which  General 
Jackson  had  tendered  to  him.  He  was  still  in  Havana 
in  the  spring  of  1835,  when  my  brother  Lewis  left  us 
to  be  married  in  Tennessee,  and  Mr.  Coolidge  arrived 
from  China  and  came  immediately  to  Washington, 
where  his  wife  and  family  were  still  staying  with  us 
He  found  my  mother  slowly  recovering  from  a  verv 
severe  illness,  considered  by  our  friend  and  physician. 
Dr.  Hall,  as  a  '  breaking  uj}  of  her  constitution,'1  and 
which  was  regarded  by  my  brothers,  Jefferson  and 
Benjamin  Franklin  (who  repaired  from  their  homes  in 
Virginia  to  their  mother's  bedside),  as  seriously  alarm- 
ing. She,  however,  recovered  to  a  certain  point,  but 
never  perfectly.  Mr.  Coolidge  and  my  sister  with 
their  children  returned  to  Boston,  whilst  my  mother 
was  to  follow  them  as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  travel. 
Accordingly,  when  her  strength  became  sufficiently 
restored,  she  made  the  journey,  going  from  Washing 
ton  to  Baltimore  by  steamer  down  the  Potomac  and 
up  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  she  not  having  strength  for 
the  stage-coach  ride  of  forty  miles,  then  the  only  di- 
rect public  conveyance  between  the  two  cities.  My 
sister  Mary  accompanied  her,  and  she  reached  Boston 
safely.  Mr.  Trist  returned  from  Havana  in  August 
after  my  mother's  departure.  He  had  then  decided, 
most  reluctantly  yielding  to  the  advice  of  his  physi 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  177 

cian,  to  prolong  his  residence  in  Havana :  his  continu 
ance  in  that  climate  for  several  years  being  judged  es- 
sential to  his  recovery  from  an  affection  of  the  throat, 
of  which  there  were  at  that  period  a  number  of  fetal 
cases.     That  winter,  instead  of  accompanying  my  hus- 
band on  his  return  to  Havana,  as  I  should  have  wished 
I  had  to  take  up  my  abode  in  Philadelphia  to  be  near 
our  little  mute  son  Thomas  Jefferson,  whom  I  entered 
— the  youngest  pupil  there— as  a  boarder  at  the  insti- 
tution  for  deaf-mutes.      This   last  winter  of  her  life 
my  mother  passed  in  Boston  with  but  two  of  her  chil- 
dren near  her :  Mrs.  Coolidge  and  Mary — the  others 
scattered  far  away  from  her,  fortunately  for  their  peace 
of  mind  unconscious  how  soon  the  last  parting  was  to 
come.     My  own  departure  for  Havana  the  following 
autumn  was  decided   on,   but   dreaded   by   all — still 
nearer  was  that  other  parting  scene  at  which  we  were 
to  meet  no  more  on  earth. 

"In  the  month  of  May,  1836,  my  mother  left  Eos- 
ton  for  Virginia,  accompanied  by  my  sister  Mary.  A 
final  adieu  it  proved  to  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Coolidge— 
her  favorite  child,  it  was  generally  thought,  but  we 
never  felt  jealous  of  her.  Our  family  was,  I  think,  a 
very  united  one.  On  her  journey  south,  she  passed 
some  weeks  in  Philadelphia  on  a  visit  ,to  her  sister-in- 
law,  Mrs.  Hackley,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Cutts.  I  was 
still  in  Philadelphia  with  my  little  deaf-mute  boy,  and 
it  was  on  that  occasion  that  this  precious  portrait  was 
secured  by  my  prevailing  on  her  to  sit  to  Mr.  Sully, 
then  considered  the  best  female  portrait  painter  in  our 
country.  Twenty  years  previously,  Mr.  Sully  had 
12 


178  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

passed  some  time  as  a  guest  at  Monticello,  haviug  been 
employed  to  make  a  portrait  of  my  grandfather  for 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  Since  that  time 
my  mother  had  changed  very  much.  Mr.  Sully  had 
then  found  her  living  with  her  dear  father  in  that  hap- 
py home,  surrounded  by  a  large,  cheerful  family-circle 
unbroken  by  death.  But  in  the  long  interval,  many  of 
its  members  had  been  taken  away,  and  grief  had  left 
its  traces  not  less  plainly  stamped  upon  her  face  than 
age.  She  was  thinner  and  more  feeble  than  I  had 
ever  seen  her — it  was  just  six  months  before  her  death. 
I  accompanied  her  to  Mr.  Sully's  studio  for  her  first 
sitting,  and  as  she  took  her  seat  before  him  she  said 
playfully :  '  Mr.  Sully,  I  shall  never  forgive  you  if 
you  paint  me  with  wrinkles.'  I  quickly  interposed, — 
•  Paint  her  just  as  she  is,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Sully,  the  pic- 
ture is  for  me.'  He  said,  '  I  shall  paint  you,  Mrs.  Ran- 
dolph, as  I  remember  you  twenty  years  ago."  He  ap- 
proved of  her  dress,  particularly  a  large  cape  worn  by 
old  ladies,  and  requested  her  not  to  make  any  change  in 
it.  The  picture  does  represent  her  twenty  years  young- 
er than  when  she  sat  to  him,  but  it  failed  to  restore  the 
embonpoint,  and  especially  the  expression  of  health  and 
cheerful,  even  joyous,  vivacity,  which  her  countenance 
then  habitually  wore.  .  While  she  was  sitting  for  her 
portrait,  her  youngest  daughter,  Septimia,  arrived  by 
sea  from  Pensacola,  where  she  had  been  taken  by  Mr. 
Trist  to  pass  the  winter  with  some  friends,  soon  after 
which  my  mother  pursued  her  journey  to  Virginia,  ac- 
companied by  Mary  and  Septimia. 

"Mr.  Trist  returned  in  August,  and  I  set  out  with 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  179 

him  in  September  for  Virginia  to  take  leave  of  my 
friends.  On  our  arrival  at  Washington,  finding  Gen- 
eral  Jackson  there  alone  in  the  White  House — soon  to 
set  out  for  Tennessee,  where  his  family  had  preceded 
him — the  General  expressed  a  wish  for  my  husband's 
company  during  the  days  he  might  still  be  detained 
there.  This  being  acceded  to,  I  pursued  my  journey 
alone,  little  dreaming  that  this  detention  of  a  few  days 
was  to  deprive  my  husband  of  ever  again  seeing  my 
mother,  between  whom  and  himself  the  warmest  at- 
tachment existed.  On  reaching  Edgehill,  I  found 
them  all  assembled  under  my  brother's  roof,  soon  to 
travel  together  northward  again  before  the  separation 
so  dreaded  by  us  all.  My  mother  and  Mary  were  to 
pass  the  winter  with  Mrs.  Coolidge,  in  Boston,  whilst 
Cornelia  and  Septimia  were  to  accompany  me  to  Ha- 
vana. I  found  my  mother  still  looking  very  delicate 
and  troubled  with  sore  throat,  for  which  a  gargle  had 
been  prescribed  by  my  brother,  Dr.  Benjamin  F.  Ran- 
dolph. She  complained  of  a  vertigo  when  she  threw 
back  her  head  in  using  it.  The  day  appointed  for  our 
departure  being  close  at  hand,  she  had  exerted  herself 
more  than  usual  in  packing  a  trunk ;  the  following- 
day  she  had  a  sick-headache  and  kept  her  bed.  She 
had  all  her  life  been  subject  to  these  headaches,  but 
within  the  last  few  years  had  ceased  to  have  them. 
One  of  my  sisters  expressed  the  hope  that  their  recur- 
rence might  be  a  favorable  symptom,  a  proof  of  re- 
turning vigor,  as  she  had  not  had  any  thing  of  the  sort 
since  her  illness  eighteen  months  before,  in  Washing- 
ton.    We  watched  by  her  bedside,  though  feeling  no 


180  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

alarm  at  an  affection  which  we  had  always  "been  accns« 
iomed  to  see  her  suffer  with  for  several  days  at  a  time. 
One  of  my  sisters  slept  in  the  room  with  her,  and  be- 
fore parting  with  her  for  the  night,  I  gave  my  mother 
some  arrow-root.  Early  next  morning  I  was  called 
and  told  she  was  worse.  I  hurried  to  her  bedside  but 
was  too  late  to  be  recognized,  a  blue  shade  passed  over 
the  beloved  face ;  it  was  gone  and  she  lay  as  in  sleep. 
but  life  had  gone  too.  It  was  apoplexy.  She  died  on 
the  10th  of  October,  1836,  having  just  completed  her 
sixty-fourth  year  on  the  27th  of  September,  ten  years 
and  three  months  after  her  father,  and  was  laid  by  his 
side  in  the  grave-yard  at  Monticello.v 


.'^'.v:,.,:.-.- 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE   HOUSE.  181 


MRS.  DOLLY  P.  MADISON. 

Washixgto^"  Ikying,  in  one  of  his  letters,  has 
given  an  amusing  account  of  his  troubles  in  Washing- 
ton, in  preparing  to  attend  a  levee  given  by  President 
Madison.  After  a  ludicrous  description  of  his  vexa 
tions,  he  says,  he  finally  emerged  into  the  blazing 
splendor  of  Mrs.  Madison's  drawing-room.  Here  he 
was  most  graciously  received,  and  found  a  crowded 
collection  of  great  and  little  men,  of  ugly  and  old 
women,  and  beautiful  young  ones.  Mrs.  Madison,  he 
adds,  was  a  fine,  pretty,  buxom  dame,  who  had  a  smile 
and  a  pleasant  word  for  every  body.  Her  sisters, 
Mrs.  Cutts  and  Mrs.  "Washington,  were  also  present  on 
this  occasion,  and  looked  "  like  the  merry  wives  of 
Windsor." 

Dorothy  Payne,  the  second  child  of  John  and 
Mary  Coles  Payne,  was  born  the  20th  of  May,  1772. 
Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of  William  Coles,  Esq., 
of  Cole3  Hill;  and  was  a  lady  of  pleasing  social 
manners.  The  family  were  Virginians,  and  though 
Mis.  Madison  was  born  in  the  State  of  North  Caroli- 
na, she  ever  prided  herself  on  a  title  so  dear  to  all  its 
possessors :  that  of  being  a  daughter  of  the  old  com- 
monwealth. Her  parents  removed  to  Philadelphia 
when  she  was  quite  young,  and  joined  the  Society  of 
Friends  at  that  place.   Here  their  little  daughter  was 


182  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

reared  according  to  the  strict  system  of  the  society, 
and  by  example  and  precept  taught  to  ignore  all  those 
graceful  accomplishments  deemed  so  necessary  in  the 
formation  of  a  woman's  education.  Attired  in  the 
close-fitting  dress  of  her  order,  she  would  demurely 
attend  to  the  duties  imposed  upon  her,  and  the  won- 
derful undertone  of  sweetness  in  her  character  kept 
the  brow  serene,  and  the  heart  ever  bright  and  hope- 
ful. Hers  was  a  sunny  elastic  nature,  even  a3  a  child ; 
and  if  she  was  not  permitted  to  learn  the  worldly  arts 
she  desired,  her  disposition  was  not  soured  by  these  re- 
strictions, and  the  inner  graces  which  afterward  made 
her  famous,  blossomed  and  bloomed  in  native  harmony. 
Nothing  could  conceal  her  beautiful  character.  Nor 
could  the  quaint  bonnet  of  the  Friends  hide  her  spark- 
ling eye3  and  perfectly  rounded  features  from  the  ad- 
miring gaze  of  her  young  acquaintances.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  she  wa3  married  to  John  Todd,  a  rising 
young  lawyer  of  Philadelphia  and  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  Her  father  had  manumitted  his 
slaves  when  he  moved  to  the  city,  and  Miss  Payne  was 
accustomed  to  a  life  of  simplicity  and  plentifulness,  but 
never  to  even  comparative  wealth.  Nor  was  she  re- 
markable for  her  literary  abilities  or  acquired  attain- 
ments; but  her  warm  heart  beamed  goodness  from  her 
expressive  lips  and  lent  a  fascination  to  her  frank, 
earnest  face.  After  her  union  with  Mr.  Todd,  her  time 
was  spent  in  her  modest  home  according  to  the  seclud- 
ed manner  of  her  sect,  and  during  her  short  married 
life  she  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  her  quiet  way,  un- 
conscious of  her  rapidly  unfolding  beauty,  or  of  the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  183 

admiration  it  was  exciting.  Soon  she  was  left  a  widow 
with,  an  infant  son,  and  made  her  home  with  hei 
widowed  mother. 

The  personal  charms  of  the  young  widow,  united 
as  they  were,  with  manners  cordial,  frank,  and  gay. 
excited  the  admiration  and  awakened  the  kind  feelings 
of  all  who  came  within  their  influence,  and  unaided  by 
:he  extrinsic  and  accidental  advantages  of  fortune  or 
fashion,  she  became  a  general  favorite,  and  the  object 
not  only  of  admiration,  but  of  serious  and  devoted 
attachment. 

In  October,  1794,  Mrs.  Todd  wa3  married  to  Mr. 
Madison,  then  one  of  the  most  talented  members  of 
Congress,  a  statesman  of  wealth  and  social  position, 
and  withal  a  great  and  good  man.  She  had  been  a 
widow  less  than  a  year,  and  was  at  the  time  of  her 
second  marriage  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  her  age. 
The  ceremony  was  performed  at  "  Harewood,"  Jeffer- 
son County,  Virginia,  the  residence  of  her  younger 
sister,  Lucy,  the  wife  of  George  Steptoe  Washington. 
From  this  time  forward,  she  lived  at  "  Montpelier,11  the 
rural  home  of  Mr.  Madison,  until  he  was  called  aofain 
to  public  life.  It  was  at  this  time  of  her  life  that  she 
developed  the  loveliest  traits  of  her  noble  character. 
Placed  in  a  position  where  she  could  command  re- 
sources, the  warmth  and  generosity  of  her  nature  was 
displayed,  not  in  lavish  personal  expenditures,  but  in 
dispensing  the  bounties  bestowed  upon  her  to  all  who 
came  as  suppliants,  and  in  giving  to  her  widowed 
mother  and  orphaned  sisters  a  home.  The  blessings 
of  her   kindred,  and  the  fond  love  of  her  husband, 


IS4  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOU3E. 

gladdened  these,  the  first  years  of  her  married  life , 
and  her  relatives  and  friends  were  made  partakers  of 
her  abundance;  while  the  tender  attentions  of  Mr 
Madison  to  her  aged  mother  filled  her  heart  to  reple- 
tion. Had  she  not  been  placed  in  a  position  harmo- 
nious to  her  nature,  it  is  probable  that  her  days  would 
have  been  spent  in  indifferent  adherence  to  a  dull 
routine,  and  the  rills  of  her  heart  which  bubbled  and 
sang  so  gleefully  in  the  summer  of  her  content,  never 
been  discovered  beneath  the  weight  of  circumstances. 
Fortunately  hers  was  a  disposition  to  rightfully  appre- 
ciate the  gifts  of  fortune  and  social  consideration,  and, 
in  accepting  her  bright  future  prospects,  determined 
to  nourish  the  smothered  generousness  of  her  soul. 
Hitherto  her  lot  had  been  circumscribed  and  the  lofty 
emotions  of  her  heart  been  hushed  ;  but  when  the 
power  was  given  her  to  do  good,  she  filled  the  meas 
ure  of  her  life  with  the  benedictions  of  humanity, 
and  reigned  in  the  affections  of  her  friends  without  a 
rival. 

Mr.  Jefferson  appointed  Mr.  Madison  Secretary  of 
State  in  1801,  and  in  April  of  that  year  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Washington.  Here  her  position 
was  in  perfect  accordance  with  her  disposition,  and  her 
house  was  a  radiating  point  for  every  acquaintance. 
The  great  secret  of  her  success  lay  in  the  innocence, 
which  dwelt  in  her  noble  nature ;  and  this  nobleness 
of  innocence  underlaid  the  dignity  and  high-minded- 
ness  wThich  attested  an  elevated  nature.  She  drank 
the  wine  of  human  existence  without  the  lees,  and 
inhaled  the  perpetual  breath  of  summer,  even  after 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  185 

the  snows  of  winter  had  closed  the  dull  course  of 
life.  She  was  gifted  with  that  which  was  better  than 
Ithuriel's  spear,  whose  touch  reveals  the  beauty  which 
existed  in  every  thing,  for  she  was  humble-hearted, 
tolerant,  and  sincere.  Entirely  free  from  malignant 
cavil,  her  instinctive  sympathy  with  the  good  and 
beautiful  led  her  to  seek  it  in  every  thing  around  her, 
and  her  life,  if  not  devoted  to  the  higher  cultivation 
of  the  mind,  developed  the  sunny  brightness  of  her 
heart.  The  power  of  adaptiveness  was  a  life-giving 
principle  in  Mrs.  Madison's  nature.  With  a  desire 
to  please,  and  a  willingness  to  be  pleased,  she  was  pop- 
ular in  society,  and  was  to  her  husband  a  support  and 
friend.  Washington  was  little  more  than  a  wilderness 
when,  in  the  spring,  she  commenced  life  there  as  the 
wife  of  a  cabinet  officer.  The  elements  which  com- 
bined to  form  the  society  of  the  Capital  were  various, 
and  difficult  to  harmonize,  and  her  situation  was  a  del- 
icate one  to  fill ;  yet  she  was  loved  by  all  parties,  and 
embittered  politicians  who  never  met  save  at  her  hos- 
pitable board,  there  forgot  "  the  thorns  of  public  con- 
troversy under  the  roses  of  private  cheerfulness."  In 
those  days,  steamboats  were  iust  besinnino;,  railroads 
unknown,  stage-coaches  extremely  inconvenient,  na- 
tional, indeed  even  turnpike  roads  were  very  rare,  and 
the  journeys  were  mostly  performed  in  the  saddle. 
The  daughter  of  one  of  the  Senators,  who  wished  to 
enjoy  the  gayeties  of  the  Capital,  accompanied  her  father 
five  hundred  miles  on  horseback.  The  wife  of  another 
member  not  only  rode  fifteen  hundred  miles  on  horse- 
back, but  passed  through  several  Indian  settlements. 


186  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

for  many  nights  without  a  house  to  lodge  in.  Mrs. 
Madison  herself  had  travelled  from  her  Virginia  home 
by  easy  stages,  cumbered  with  household  furniture, 
and  stopping  on  the  road  to  visit  relatives  ;  occupying 
what  seems  to  us  at  this  day  an  incredible  length  of 
time  to  perform  such  a  journey.  Her  house,  after  the 
President's,  was  the  resort  of  most  company,  and  the 
cordial  manners  of  the  hostess  lent  a  peculiar  charm  to  the 
frequent  parties  there  assembled.  "  Individuals  who 
never  visited  at  the  President's,  nor  met  at  the  other 
ministerial  houses,  could  not  resist  the  softening  influ- 
ences of  her  conciliatory  disposition,  of  her  frank  and 
gracious  manners,  but  frequented  her  evening  circle,  and 
sat  at  her  husband's  table."  Political  feuds  ran  high, 
and  party  spirit  was  more  virulent  than  ever  before 
experienced.  Washington's  administration  had  been  a 
success,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  he  was  not  in- 
cluded in  any  party,  but  was  above  them  all.  Yet  he 
placed  himself,  when  the  question  was  of  a  political 
order,  under  the  banner  of  the  republican  party,  and 
"  was  the  declared  advocate  of  the  unity  and  force  of 
the  central  power."  He  insured  its  triumph  during 
his  two  terms,  and  let  his  mantle  descend  upon  one  of 
his  most  attached  Mends.  The  democratic  party,  de- 
siring the  rule  of  the  majority,  opposed  to  the  pre- 
ponderance of  the  higher  classes,  and  to  aristocratic 
tendencies,  overcame  the  successor  of  "Washington,  who 
was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  leader  of  the  op- 
position. At  the  commencement  of  this  era,  Mrs. 
Madison  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  gave  to  her 
husband  that  support  which  enhanced  his  popularity 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  187 

as  a  public  man,  and  made  his  house  the  most  popular 
place  of  resort  in  the  city.  During  his  eight  years' 
life  as  Secretary  of  State,  she  dispensed  with  no  nig- 
gard hand  the  abundant  wealth  she  rightly  prized, 
and  the  poor  of  the  District  loved  her  name  as  a 
household  deity.  In  1810,  Mr.  Madison  was  elected 
President,  and  after  Mr.  Jefferson  left  the  city,  he  re- 
moved to  the  White  House.  Under  the  former  ad- 
ministration, Mrs.  Madison  had,  during  the  absences  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  daughters,  presided  at  the  receptions 
and  levees,  and  was  in  every  particular  fitted  to  adorn 
her  position  as  hostess  of  the  mansion  she  was  called 
to  preside  over.  Every  one  in  Washington  felt  that 
her  watchful  care  and  friendly  interest  wrould  be  in  no 
wise  diminished  by  her  advancement  to  a  higher  po- 
sition ;  and  the  magical  effects  of  her  snuff  box  were 
as  potent  in  one  capacity  as  another.  The  forms  and 
ceremonials  which  had  rendered  the  drawing-rooms  of 
Mrs.  Washington  and  Mrs.  Adams  dull  and  tedious, 
were  laid  aside,  and  no  kind  of  stiffness  was  permitted. 
Old  friends  were  not  forgotten,  or  new  ones  courted  ; 
but  mild  and  genial  to  all,  each  person  felt  himself 
the  object  of  special  attention,  and  all  left  her  presence 
pleased  and  gratified  with  her  urbanity  and  refinement. 
Possessing  a  most  retentive  memory,  she  never  mis- 
called a  name,  or  forgot  the  slightest  incident  connected 
with  the  personal  history  of  any  one ;  and  therefore 
impressed  each  individual  with  the  idea  of  their  im- 
portance in  her  esteem.  Mrs.  Madison's  sole  aim  was 
to  be  popular  and  render  her  husband's  administration 
brilliant  and  successful.      Her  field  was  the  parlor; 


1SS  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE, 

and  with  the  v:  :  eigning  supreme  there,  she  bent 

f  her  mind  to  the  one  idea  of  accom 
plishrnent.  In  her  thirty-seventh  year  she  entered  the 
White  House.  Still  youthful  in  appearance,  denied 
the  care?  of  maternity,  which  destroys  the  "bloom  of 
beauty  on  the  delicate  faces  of  American  women,  she  as- 
sumed her  agreeable  position  with  no  encumbrances,  no 
in  perfect  health,  the  possessor  of  great  beauty 
of  feature  and  form,  and  eminently  happy  in  the  sincere 
regard  of  her  husband.  Contentment  crowned  her  lot 
tees,  and  the  first  four  years  of  her  stay 
most  have  been  one  oontimi  With  all  her 

appreciation  of  admiration,  she  was  not  extravagant : 
her  house,  during  the  time  of  Mr.  JerTer.;  n's  term,  was 
very  plainly  furnished,  and  in  no  way  elegant.  Like 
most  Virginians,  she  delighted  in  ay,  and  her 

home  was  the  most  h  sg  ital  .  at  :»de  in  Washington. 
Her  table  was  her  pride;  and  :  undance  of 

dishes,  and  their  size,  was  a  subject  of  ridicule  to  a 
foreign  minister,  who  observed  "thai  it  was  more  like  a 
harvest-home  supper,  than  the  entertainment  of  a  Sec- 
retary of  State."  She  heard  of  this  and  similar  re- 
marks, and  only  observed  wit  j.ile,  "that  she 
thought  abundance  referable  to  elegance;  that 
Distances  formed  customs,  and  customs  formed 
the  profusion  90  repugnant  to  foreign 
customs  arose  from  the  happy  circumstance  of  the  super- 
abundance and  prosperity  of  our  country,  she  did  not 
Lesi:  icrifice  the  delicacy  of  European  taste  for 
the  less  elegant,  but  more  liberal  fashion  of  Virginia/' 
But  this  time  of  prosperity               :         md  warinso- 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 


189 


tiatc  was  already  treading  upon  the  shores  of  the  At- 
lantic.  Mr.  Madison,  the  peace-loving,  humane  Execu- 
tive,  was  compelled  to  declare  war  with  Great  Britain  ; 
and'  after  a  time  its  actual  presence  was  felt  at  the 
National  Capital.  June,  1812,  is  memorable  as  the 
second  appeal  of  the  United  States  to  arms,  to  as- 
sert once  more  their  rights  as  freemen;  and  for  three 
years  its  fierceness  was  felt  from  Canada  to  New  Or- 
leans, and  over  the  blue  waters  of  the  oceans  of  the 

world. 

«  Generous  British  sentiments  revolted  at  the  de- 
struction of  the  American  Capital :  which  might  not 
have  been  branded  with  universal  infamy  if  confined 
to  navy  yards,  warlike  implements,  vessels  of  war,  and 
even  private  rope-walks,  if  the  enormity  had  stopped 
there.  But  no  warfare  can  satisfy  its  abominable  lust 
with  impunity  on  libraries,  public  and  private,  halls 
of  legislation,  residences  of  magistrates,  buildings  of 
civil  "government,  objects  of  art,  seats  of  peace,  and 
embodiments  of  rational  patriotic  pride." 

"The  day  before  the  fall  of  Washington  was  one 
of  extreme  alarm,  the  Secretary  of  State  wrote  to  the 
President:  'the  enemy  are  advanced  six  miles  on  the 
road  to  the  wood-yard,  and  our  troops  are  retreating. 
You  had  better  remove  the  records.'  Then  com- 
menced the  panic  which  was  destined  to  grow  more 
general  the  coming  day.  Tuesday  night,  every  clerk 
was  busy  packing  and  aiding  iu  the  removal  of  valu- 
ables.  Coarse  linen  bags  were  provided,  and  late  in 
the  evening,  after  all  the  work  was  over,  and  tbe  bags 
were  hanging  round  the  room,  ready  at  a  moment^ 


190  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

warning  to  be  moved,  Mr.  Pleasanton,  one  of  the 
clerks,  procured  conveyances,  and  crossing  the  Poto- 
mac deposited  them  in  a  mill  three  miles  off.  But 
fearing  for  their  safety,  he  determined  to  go  farther 
into  the  interior,  and  the  next  night  slept  at  Leesburg, 
a  small  town  thirty-five  miles  from  Washington.  The 
light  that  shone  against  the  cloudless  sky  revealed  the 
fate  of  the  city,  and  the  doom  of  his  charge  had  they 
delayed.  Amongst  the  documents  were  the  original 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Federal  Constitution, 
and  General  Washington's  commission  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  which  he  re- 
linquished when  he  resigned  it  at  Annapolis,  (found 
among  the  rubbish  of  a  garret).  Scarcely  had  the 
wagon  that  bore  the  papers  crossed  the  wooden 
bridge  of  the  Potomac,  than  crowds  of  flying  fugitives, 
men,  women,  and  children,  pressed  upon  it  in  such 
numbers  as  to  render  the  threatened  danger  almost 
imminent.  The  frightened  multitude  swayed  to  and 
fro,  seeking  means  of  escape  till  night  closed  the  horri- 
ble drama  ;  then  upon  Capitol  Hill  appeared  the  red- 
coated  soldiery  of  the  British  army.  -The  sun  sank 
beneath  the  golden  sheen  of  fleecy  clouds  that  floated 
softly  over  the  southern  horizon,  but  the  going  down 
of  the  king  of  day  in  no  wise  relieved  the  atmosphere. 
Dust  and  heat  were  intolerable,  and  a  rumor  that  the 
water  was  poisoned  rendered  the  sufferings  of  the 
weary  soldiers  painful  in  the  extreme.  For  the  sev- 
enth time  that  day,  a  retreat  was  commanded,  and  the 
city  troops,  mortified  and  enraged,  refused  to  obey. 
Back  from  the  city  to  the  heights  of  Georgetown  was 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  191 

the  order ;  but  how  could  they  leave  their  families,  their 
homes  and  property,  and  march  by  those  they  were 
sworn  to  protect !  Down  the  long,  broad,  and  solitary 
avenue  past  the  President's  now  deserted  house, 
through  Georgetown,  and  some  as  far  as  Tenlytown, 
the  disorganized,  demoralized  remnant  of  the  army 
strayed,  and  slept  on  the  ground,  lighted  up  by  the 
fiery  red  glare  from  the  burning  buildings  in  Washing- 
ton. All  night  they  lay  alarmed  and  distressed,  while 
but  few  could  steal  a  moment's  repose.  The  bursting 
shells  in  the  navy  yard  were  heard  for  miles,  and  each 
boom  was  a  knell  to  the  a^onizinsr  hearts,  who  knew 
not  where  their  helpless  ones  were  in  this  hour  of 
horrors. 

"  When  the  British  marched  slowly  into  the  wil- 
derness city,  by  the  lurid  light  that  shot  up  from  the 
blazing  capitol,  the  population  had  -dwindled  down  to 
a  few  stragglers  and  the  slaves  of  the  absent  residents. 
The  houses,  scattered  over  a  large  space,  were  shut,  and 
no  Biffn  of  life  was  visible.  The  President  had  crossed 
the  Potomac  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  Mrs.  Madison 
had  followed  in  another  direction.  The  bayonets  of 
the  British  guard  gleamed  as  they  filed  down  the  ave- 
nue, and  the  fulminations  from  the  navy  yard  saluted 
them  as  they  passed.  Nothing  but  the  prayers  and 
entreaties  of  the  ladies,  and  the  expostulations  of  the 
nearest  residents,  deterred  the  British  General  Ross 
from  blowing  up  the  Capitol ;  but  he  ordered  it  to  be 
fired  at  every  point,  and  many  houses  near  it  were 
consumed.  A  house  hard  by,  owned  by  General 
Washington,  was  destroyed,  which,  in  justice  to  human 


192  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

nature  be  it  said,  the  General  regretted.  Not  so  the 
Admiral,  who  ordered  the  troops  to  fire  a  volley  in 
the  windows  of  the  Capitol  and  then  entered  to  plun- 
der. 

"  I  have,  indeed,  to  this  hour,  (said  Mr.  Richard 
Rush,  in  1855)  the  vivid  impression  upon  my  eye  of 
columns  of  flame  and  smoke  ascending  throughout  the 
night  of  the  24th  of  August  from  the  Capitol,  Presi- 
dent's house,  and  other  public  edifices,  as  the  whole 
were  on  fire,  some  burning  slowly,  others  with  bursts 
of  flame  and  sparks  mounting  high  up  in  the  dark 
horizon.  This  never  can  be  forgotten  by  me,  as  I  ac- 
companied out  of  the  city,  on  that  memorable  night  in 
1814,  President  Madison,  Mr.  Jones,  then  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  General  Mason,  of  Anaeostia  Island,  Mr. 
Charles  Carroll,  of  Bellevue,  and  Mr.  Tench  Ringgold. 
If  at  intervals  the  dismal  sight  was  lost  to  our  view, 
we  got  it  again  from  some  hill-top  or  eminence  where 
we  paused  to  look  at  it." 

It  was  anion?  the  stories  when  Congress  met  near 
the  ruins  three  weeks  afterward,  that  the  Admiral  in 
a  strain  of  coarse  levity,  mounting  the  speaker's  chair 
put  the  question,  "  Shall  this  harbor  of  Yankee  democ- 
racy be  burned  ? "  and  when  the  mock  resolution  was 
declared  unanimous,  it  was  carried  into  effect  by  heap- 
ing combustibles  under  the  furniture.  The  temporary 
wooden  structure  connecting:  the  two  win^rs,  readilv 
kindled.  Doors,  chairs,  the  library  and  its  contents, 
in  an  upper  room  of  the  senate-wing,  every  thing  that 
would  take  fire,  soon  disappeared  in  sheets  of  flame, 
illuminating  and  consternating  the  environs  for  thirty 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  193 

miles  around,  whence  the  conflagration  was  visible. 
Through  "  the  eternal  Pennsylvania  Avenue,"  the  Ad- 
miral and  General  led  their  elated  troops,  where  but  a 
few  hours  before  the  flying,  scattered  Americans,  dis- 
mayed, ashamed,  and  disgusted,  had  wended  their  sor- 
rowing way.  The  Capitol  behind  them  was  wrapt  in 
its  winding  robes  of  flame,  and  on  through  the  darl 
ness  they  passed  to  that  other  house  of  the  nation. 

An  aged  lady  lived  in  the  nearest  residence  to  the 
Presidential  Mansion,  and  here  the  ruffianly  Coekburn 
and  the  quiet,  sad  General  Ross  halted  and  ordered 
supper,  which  they  ate  by  the  light  of  the  burning 
buildings.  A  letter  written  by  Mrs.  Madison  to  her 
sister  at  Mount  Vernon,  gives  us  an  insight  into  her 
feelings,  although  only  detached  items  can  be  given. 


"  Tuesday,  August  23d,  1814. 

"Dear  Sister: — My  husband  left  me  yesterday 
morning  to  join  General  Winder.  He  inquired  anx- 
iously whether  I  had  courage  or  firmness  to  remain  in 
the  President's  House  until  his  return,  on  the  morrow 
or  succeeding  day,  and  on  my  assurance  that  I  had  no 
fear  but  for  him  and  the  success  of  our  army,  he  left 
me,  beseeching  me  to  take  care  of  myself,  and  of  the 
Cabinet  papers,  public  and  private.  I  have  since  re- 
ceived two  dispatches  from  him  written  with  a  pencil ; 
the  last  is  alarming,  because  he  desires  that  I  should 
be  ready  at  a  moment's  warning  to  enter  my  carriage 
and  leave  the  city :  that  the  enemy  seemed  stronger 
than  had  been  reported,  and  that  it  might  happen  that 
13 


194  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

they  would  reach  the  city  with  intention  to  destroy  it 

*  *  *  lam  accordingly  ready ;  I  have  pressed  as 
many  Cabinet  papers  into  trunks  as  to  fill  one  car- 
riage ;  our  private  property  must  be  sacrificed,  as  it  is 
impossible  to  procure  wagons  for  its  transportation. 
I  am  determined  not  to  go  myself,  until  I  see  Mr. 
Madison  safe  and  he  can  accompany  me, — as  I  hear  of 
much  hostility  toward  him.  *  *  *  Disaffection 
stalks  around  us.  *  *  My  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances are  all  gone,  even  Colonel  C,  with  his  hundred 
men,  who  were  stationed  as  a  guard  in  this  enclosure. 

*  "  .  French  John  (a  faithful  domestic)  with  his  usual 
activity  and  resolution,  offers  to  spike  the  cannon  at 
the  gate,  and  lay  a  train  of  powder  which  would  blow 
up  the  British,  should  they  enter  the  house.  To  the 
last  proposition  I  positively  object,  without  being  able. 
however,  to  make  him  understand  wliy  all  advantages 
in  war  may  not  be  taken. 

"Wednesday  morning,  twelve  o'clock. — Since  sun- 
rise I  have  been  turning  my  spy-glass  in  every  direc- 
tion and  watching  with  unwearied  anxiety,  hoping  to 
discover  the  approach  of  my  dear  husband  and  his 
friends ;  but,  alas !  I  can  descry  only  groups  of  military 
wandering  in  all  directions,  as  if  there  was  a  lack  of 
arms,  or  of  spirits,  to  fight  for  their  own  firesides  ! 

"  Three  o'clock. — Will  you  believe  it,  my  sister  ? 
we  have  had  a  battle  or  skirmish  near  Bladensburgh, 
and  I  am  still  here  within  sound  of  the  cannon !  Mr. 
Madison  comes  not ;  may  God  protect  him  !  Two 
messengers  covered  with  dust  come  to  bid  me  fly  ;  but 
T  wait  for  him.     *     *     *     At  this  late   hour  a  wag- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  195 

oil  has  been  procured ;  I  have  had  it  filled  with  the 
plate  and  most  valuable  portable  articles  belonging  to 
the  house ;  whether  it  will  reach  its  destination,  the 
Bank  of  Maryland,  or  fall  into  the  hands  of  British 
soldiery,  events  must  determine.  Our  kind  friend,  Mr. 
Carroll,  has  come  to  hasten  my  departure,  and  is  in  a 
very  bad  humor  with  me  because  I  insist  on  waiting 
until  the  large  picture  of  General  Washington  is  se- 
cured, and  it  requires  to  be  unscrewed  from  the  wall. 
This  process  was  found  too  tedious  for  these  perilous 
moments ;  I  have  ordered  the  frame  to  be  broken  and 
the  canvas  taken  out ;  it  is  done — and  the  precious 
portrait  placed  in  the  hands  of  two  gentlemen  of  New 
York  for  safe  keeping.  And  now,  my  dear  sister,  I 
must  leave  this  house,  or  the  retreating  army  will  make 
me  a  prisoner  in  it,  by  filling  up  the  road  I  am  di- 
rected to  take.  When  I  shall  again  write  to  you,  or 
where  I  shall  b?.  to-morrow,  I  cannot  tell ! " 

On  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to 
Washington,  in  1800,  a  magnificent  portrait  of  General 
Washington,  painted  by  Stuart  partly,  and  completed 
by  Winstanley,  to  whom  President  John  Adams' 
son-in-law,  Colonel  Smith,  stood  for  the  unfinished 
limbs  and  body,  liung  in  the  state  dining-room.  Colo- 
nel W.  P.  Custis,  of  Arlington,  a  grandson  of  Mrs. 
Washington,  called  at  the  President's  to  save  this  pic- 
ture of  his  illustrious  grandfather,  in  whose  house  he 
was  reared.  Then,  as  now,  it  was  one  of  the  very  few 
ornaments  which  adorned  the  White  House,  and  at  the 
risk  of  capture  Mrs.  Madison  determined  to  save  it. 
The   servants   of  the  house  broke  with   an  axe  the 


196  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

heavy  gilt  frame  which  protected  the  inner  one  of 
wood,  upon  which  the  canvas  was  stretched,  and  re- 
moved, uninjured,  the  painting,  leaving  the  broken 
fragments  screwed  to  the  wall,  which  had  held  dis- 
tended the  valued  relic.  Mrs.  Madison  then  left  the 
house,  and  the  portrait  was  taken  whole  in  the  inner 
frame  by  Mr.  Baker  beyond  Georgetown  and  placed 
in  a  secure  position. 

"The  Presidential househokWod,  the  inia^e  of  the 
Father  of  his  Country — by  whom  its  chief  city  was 
fixed  near  his  home,  and  by  whose  name  it  was  called 
— was  thus  snatched  from  the  clutch  or  torch  of  the 
barbarian  captors.""  Half  a  century  later,  when  the 
White  House  was  undergoing  a  renovation,  this  por- 
trait was  sent,  with  many  others  subsequently  added 
to  this  solitary  collection,  to  be  cleaned  and  the  frame 
burnished.  The  artist  found  on  examination  that  the 
canvas  had  never  been  cut.  since  the  rusted  tacks, 
time-worn  frame,  and  the  size  compared  with  the  or- 
iginal picture,  was  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that 
Mrs.  Madison  did  not  cut  it  out  with  a  carving-knife, 
as  many  traditions  have  industriously  circulated. 

The  frame  was  a  large  one,  hanging  high  on  the 
wall,  and  it  was  impossible  that  *a  lady  could  by 
mounting  a  table  be  enabled  to  reach  any  but  the 
lower  portion  ;  then,  too,  in  that  moment  of  nervous 
alarm,  the  constant  noise  of  cannon  filling  each  heart 
with  dread,  it  seems  improbable  that  any  hand,  above 
all  a  woman's,  could  be  steady  enough  to  cut,  without 
ruining  the  canvas. 

Again,  from  the  lips  of  a  descendant,  the  assurance 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  197 

is  given  that  Mrs.  Madison  repeatedly  asserted  that 
she  did  not  cut  it,  but  only  lingered  to  see  it  safely  re- 
moved before  she  stepped  into  her  waiting  carriage 
and  was  driven  rapidly  toward  Georgetown. 

First  to  the  residence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
then  to  Belleview,  and  joined  by  the  family  of  Mr. 
Jones  and  Mr.  Carroll,  returned  to  town  insisting  that 
her  terrified  coachman  should  take  her  back  toward 
the  President's  house  to  look  for  Mr.  Madison,  whom 
she  unexpectedly  found  near  the  lower  bridge,  attended 
by  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Rush,  who  had  reached  the 
White  House  soon  after  she  left  it  and  stopped  for  re- 
freshments. 

It  has  been  related  that  the  British  found  a  sump- 
tous  meal  smoking  on  the  table  when  thev  reached 
there  after  dark,  and  that  they  enjoyed  the  iced  wines 
aud  cold  ham,  amusing  themselves  with  the  coarse  as- 
sertion that  "  Jemmy"  ran  from  his  bacon  "  to  save  his 
bacon."  The  low  pun  found  ears  ready  to  credit  and  cir- 
culate it,  but  the  porter,  who  died  but  a  few  years  since, 
has  repeatedly  asserted  that  the  occupants  of  the  house 
had  been  in  such  constant  fright  that  but  little  had 
been  cooked,  and  no  regular  meal  partaken  of  that 
day ;  that  there  was  always  plenty  in  the  larder  for 
any  emergency,  and  a  wine-cellar  kept  well  stored,  but 
that  after  the  President's  party  had  eaten  on  their  ar- 
rival, soon  after  Mrs.  Madison's  departure,  and  given 
the  remnants  of  their  hasty  meal  to  the  tired,  jaded 
soldiers  of  Col.  Savol's  regiment,  that  there  was  noth- 
ing left. 

Water  was  furnished  the  troops  in  buckets,  and  ab 


198  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  wine  in  the  house  given  them.  John  Siousa,  the 
French  porter,  after  seeing  the  President  and  his  at- 
tendants off,  took  the  parrot  belonging  to  Mrs.  Madi- 
son to  the  residence  of  Col.  Tayloe,  and  then  returned 
and  fastened  the  house  securely  and  took  the  keys  with 
him  to  Philadelphia.  All  the  afternoon,  parties  of 
strao-o-ling  soldiers,  on  their  way  to  Georgetown,  hung 
about  the  house  and  grounds,  and  vagrant  negroes  pil- 
fered in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  servants.  Many 
articles  were  taken  from  the  house  to  be  secured  and 
returned,  as  some  were,  but  much  was  never  restored. 
The  porter  secreted  the  gold  and  silver  mounted  car- 
bines and  pistols  of  the  Algerian  minister,  which  are 
now  in  the  patent  office,  but  the  revolvers  belonging 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which  the  President 
laid  on  a  table,  were  stolen. 

Gloating  with  revenge,  at  the  escape  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  wife,  "  whom  they  wanted  to  show  in  Eng 
land,'1  the  enemy  broke  open  the  doors  of  the  White 
House,  and  ransacked  it  from  cellar  to  garret,  finding 
nothing  of  value,  or  as  objects  of  curiosity,  save  a 
small  parcel  of  the  pencil  notes  received  from  her  hus- 
band by  Mrs.  Madison,  while  he  was  with  the  troops, 
which  she  had  rolled  up  together  and  put  in  a  table 
drawer.  To  all  the  rest  of  the  contents :  furniture, 
wines,  provisions,  groceries,  and  family  stores,  which 
cost  Mr.  Madison  twelve  thousand  dollars,  together 
with  an  excellent  library,  the  torch  was  applied.  Fire 
was  procured  at  a  small  beer  house  opposite  the  Trea- 
sury to  light  the  buildings  with,  and  while  the  com- 
manders were  eating  their  evening  meal  at  the  house 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOESE.  19S 

of  Mrs.  Suter,  on  the  corner,  the  eomnion  aol  liera,  :  - 
srether  with  the  negroes  and  thieves  of  all  grades,  were 

pillaging  the  rapidly  burning  building?. 

The  "White  House  was  olete 

then  as  now;  the  east  room,  which  had  serve!  Mrs. 
Adams  for  a  drying  room,  was  unfurnished  and  unoc- 
cupied, and  the  front  vestibule  not  then  added,  which 
so  greatly  enhances  the  interior  of  the  present  man- 
sion. The  House  was  plain,  unfinished,  and  totally 
destitute  of  ornament,  the  ground?  nninclosed.  and 
materials  for  building  purposes  lying  scattered  about 
the  woods  which  have  since  become  the  ornament 
this  portion  of  the  city.  Nothing  but  the  lateness  of 
the  hour,  and  the  storm  coming  on.  saved  the  War  De- 
partment. The  squadron  which  was  to  have  cooper- 
ated with  them,  failing  to  come,  filled  the  officers 
timorous  fear,  and  they  determined  to  evacuate  the 
city  the  next  day  unless  it  should  arrive  in  the  mean 
time.  For  over  a  week  the  unhappy  citizens  of  Wash- 
ington had  not  slept  or  pursued  the  avocations  of  daily 
life.  Constant  rumors  and  frights  had  unnerved  the 
stoutest  hearts,  and  families  fleeing  from  a  foreign  foe 
rendered  the  situation  of  those  who  could  not  1 
more  distressing.  Every  vehicle  had  been  press 
to  service  and  valuables  scattered  over  the  countr  for 
safety.  The  city  contained  about  eight  thousand  in- 
habitants, living  at  great  distances,  of  whom  n  t  m 
than  one  tenth  remained  in  its  limits  to  se:-  the  en- 
trance and  exit  of  the  British  army.  Over  the  long 
bridge,  until  it  was  in  danger  of  giving  way,  through 
the  country  into  the  interior  of  Maryland  and  beyond 


200  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  Georgetown  limits,  the  flying,  frightened  people 
wandered,  not  caring  whither  or  how  they  went,  so 
that  they  escaped  from  their  remorseless  foes.  It  was 
a  whole  week,  said  the  aged  Mrs.  Suter  (at  whose 
honse  the  intruders  demanded  supper),  of  great 
trouble,  hardly  sleeping  at  night  and  all  the  day  spent 
in  fright.  After  the  terrors  of  that  sad  week  and 
dreadful  day,  the  capitol  and  other  buildings  blazing, 
the  navy  yard  fearfully  exploding,  a  rain  set  in  which 
in  intensity  and  duration  was  scarcely  ever  witnessed, 
and  which  continued  during  the  following  day.  A 
British  narrator  states,  B  that  the  most  tremendous  hur- 
ricane ever  remembered  by  the  oldest  inhabitant  in  the 
place  came  on.  Of  the  prodigious  force  of  the  wind, 
it  is  impossible  for  you  to  form  any  conception.  Roofs 
of  houses  were  torn  off  by  it,  and  whisked  into  the  air 
like  sheets  of  paper ;  while  the  rain  which  accompa- 
nied it  resembled  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  cataract, 
rather  than  the  dropping  of  a  shower.  The  darkness 
was  as  great  as  if  the  sun  had  long  set  and  the  last  re- 
mains of  twilight  had  come  on,  occasionally  relieved 
by  flashes  of  vivid  lightning  streaming  through  it, 
which  together  with  the  noise  of  the  wind  and  the 
thunder,  the  crash  of  falling  buildings,  and  the  tearing 
of  roofs  as  they  were  stript  from  the  walls  pro- 
duced the  most  appalling  effect  I  shall  probably 
ever  witness.  This  lasted  for  nearly  two  hours 
without  intermission ;  during  which  time  many  of  the 
houses  spared  by  us  were  blown  down,  and  thirty  of 
our  men,  besides  several  of  the  inhabitants,  buried  be- 
neath their  ruins.     Our  column  was  as  completely  dis- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE,  201 

persed  as  if  it  had  received  a  total  defeat ;  some  of  the 
men  flying  for  shelter  behind  walls  and  buildings,  and 
others  falling  flat  upon  the  ground  to  prevent  them- 
selves from  being  carried  away  by  the  tempest ;  nay. 
such  was  the  violence  of  the  wind  that  two  pieces  of 
cannon  which  stood  upon  the  eminence,  were  fairly 
lifted  from  the  ground  and  borne  several  yards  to  the 
rear." 

This  second  storm,  which  was  most  terrifying  to  the 
British,  unaccustomed  as  they  were  to  the  grand  for- 
ests and  heavy  rains  of  America,  was,  if  possible, 
more  destructive  than  the  one  of  the  night  before.  It 
commenced  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  was 
so  awful  to  the  troops  that  they  neglected  to  fire  the 
post-office,  and  Congress  was  thereby  saved  the  neces- 
sity of  being  driven  to  Georgetown  or  Philadelphia, 
when  it  again  met  in  three  weeks.  After  an  occupa- 
tion of  twenty-nine  hours,  the  British  withdrew  and 
Washington  was  evacuated. 

Mrs.  Madison,  after  meeting  her  husband,  accom- 
panied him  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  where  one 
small  boat  was  kept  ready — of  the  many  others  all 
sunk  or  removed  but  that  one — to  transport  the 
President,  Mr.  Monroe,  Mr.  Push,  Mr.  Mason,  and  Mr. 
Carroll  to  the  Virginia  shore.  The  boat  was  too  small 
to  carry  all  at  once,  so  that  several  trips  were  necessary ; 
and  as  the  shades  of  night  set  in  upon  them,  they  looked 
like  departing  spirits  leaving  the  world  behind,  to  be  fer- 
ried over  an  inevitable  Styx.  Bidding  them  adieu  as  the 
last  one  entered  the  frail  bark,  Mrs.  Madison  returned  tf  ■ 
her  friends  at  Georgetown,  but  agreeably  to  her  hu^ 


202  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

baud's  orders,  she  started  on  to  a  more  secure  retreat.  The 
roads  were  so  blocked  with  wagons  that  their  progress 
was  very  slow,  and  they  left  their  carriages  and  walked 
to  relieve  their  anxiety.  Crowds  of  soldiers,  panic- 
stricken,  were  retracing  their  steps  to  the  remnant  of 
troops  with  General  Winder.  Families,  with  their 
conveyances  loaded  down  with  household  goods,  moved 
slowly  forward,  amid  the  tumult,  while  the  coming 
darkness  increased  the  general  alarm.  Long  after 
dark,  the  party  accompanying  Mrs.  Madison  reached 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Love,  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
Potomac,  where  they  begged  the  privilege  of  remain- 
ing all  night.  There  was  little  need  of  beds  for  that 
agitated  band  of  frightened  women,  and  the  ni^ht  was 
passed  by  some  in  tears ;  by  Mrs.  Madison  in  sitting  by 
an  open  window,  gazing  back  upon  the  weird  and  fan- 
tastic flames  as  they  met  and  lapped  in  the  far  dis- 
tance. Smothered  rambling  noises  started  the  listening 
ear,  as  ever  and  anon  some  huge  edifice  or  wing  of  a 
building  fell  in.  The  gentlemanly  owner  of  the  house 
was  away  with  the  troops,  and  his  wife  was  ill  and 
alone  with  her  servants,  but  the  sudden  visit  of  so 
many  strangers  was  no  check  to  the  hospitality  of  the 
hostess.  Every  sofa  and  available  substitute  was 
brought  into  requisition,  and  all  rendered  comfortable. 
Sleep  was  banished  from  all  eyes,  even  had  any  been 
inclined  to  repose.  The  clanking,  clattering  noise  of 
several  hundred  disorderly  cavalrymen  around  the 
house  kept  every  one  awake,  while  all  felt  the  desolate 
weariness  of  the  nisrht  was  but  a  harbinger  of  the 
coming  day.     M  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE-  203 

the  occupants  of  that  house  that  summer  night,  we  of 
the  present  day  cannot  realize,"  writes  an  eminent  his- 
torian in  184:2  ;  but  those  who  had  not  "  fallen  asleep'' 
when  the  summer  of  1862  came  upon  us,  endured  siim 
ilar  hours  of  anguish,  which  seared  their  hearts  for- 
ever. Xo  scene  of  horror  was  enacted  in  or  about 
Washington  in  that  week  of  excitement  that  has  not 
been  repeatedly  paralleled  in  these  later  years  of  civil 
war. 

Long  before  day,  the  sleepless  caravan,  with  Mrs. 
Madison  at  the  head,  started  forward  to  the  place  ap- 
pointed for  a  meeting  with  Mr.  Madison,  "  Consterna- 
tion was  at  its  uttermost :  the  whole  region  filled  with 
panic-struck  people,  terrified  scouts  roaming  about  and 
spreading  alarm  that  the  enemy  were  coming  from 
Washington  and  Alexandria,  and  that  there  was  safety 
nowhere."  As  the  day  wore  on,  in  which  the  British 
were  plundering  and  burning  Washington,  the  storm 
that  sent  terror  to  their  superstitious  bosoms  overtook 
the  tired  refugees.  But  the  elemental  war,  with  its 
bolts  of  thunder  and  zigzag  lightning  penetrating  the 
darkened  recesses  of  the  forest,  caused  no  feeling  so  in- 
supportable  as  the  flying  rumor  that  the  negroes  were 
in  revolt,  and  maddened  with  drink  and  promised  lib- 
erty, were  roaming  in  numbers,  committing  every  ex* 
cess,  worse  than  those  at  Hampton  the  year  before. 
A.s  the  day  gradually  drew  to  a  close,  the  faint  and 
drenched  companions  of  Mrs.  Madison  reached  the  ap- 
pointed place,  sixteen  miles  from  Washington.  But 
the  President  was  not  there,  and  here  occurred  one  of 
those  disagreeable  scenes  that  are  a  disgrace  to  the  name 


204  LADIES   OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  humanity,  and  which,  be  it  said  to  the- shame  of 
her  sex,  are  oftener  the  acts  of  woman  than  of  man. 
Crowds  of  persons  from  Washington  occupied  the  tav- 
ern, and  the  women  declared  that  the  wife  of  him  who 
had  brought  war  upon  the  country,  should  not  find  shel- 
ter with  them,  its  innocent  victims.  Jaded  and  ex- 
hausted from  constant  travel  and  want  of  sleep,  the 
devoted  band  about  Mrs.  Madison  waited  in  the  storm, 
urging  the  tavern-keeper  to  give  them  an  apartment 
until  the  President  should  arrive.  The  furious  storm 
grew  louder,  the  sky  lowering  before,  was  black  as 
night  now,  and  a  tornado  of  tropical  fury  set  in  which 
spread  desolation  for  many  miles  around.  Women 
who  had  repeatedly  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  the 
White  House,  been  admitted  with  kind  cordiality  to 
drawing-rooms  and  dinings,  now  vied  with  the  wife  of 
the  landlord  in  denouncing  vehemently  the  inclination 
of  the  men  present  to  admit  the  Presidential  party. 
Embittered  by  their  real  and  imaginary  wrongs,  thev 
lost  all  sense  of  honor  and  refinement,  and  stood  in 
their  true  colors  before  the  lady  who  never  for  one 
moment  forgot  the  dignity  becoming  her  station.  She 
preferred  the  fury  of  the  storm  to  contention  ;  but  the 
escort  with  her,  indignant  at  the  contemptible  conduct 
of  the  rude  persons  within,  obliged  the  ungracious  oc- 
cupants to  open  the  doors.  The  old  tavern  stood  in 
the  midst  of  an  apple  orchard  laden  with  ripening 
fruit,  and  hardly  had  the  travellers  left  their  carriages 
when  the  hurricane  dashed  the  apples,  ofttimes  the  en- 
tire trees,  with  fearful  strength  against  the  house. 
Mrs.  Madison  spread  the  lunch  she  had  prepared  the 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  205 

day  before  at  the  White  House,  and  in  silence,  inter* 
rupted  only  by  her  inquiries  for  the  welfare  of  her  at- 
tendants, they  ate  their  damp  food  and  smothered  the 
intense  disgust  they  felt  for  families  who  only  the  day 
before  they  deemed  firm  friends.  The  hours  dragged 
slowly  on,  and  the  anxious  wife  looked  in  vain  for  her 
absent  husband.  Did  she,  in  that  hour  of  grief  and 
humiliation,  think  of  her  illustrious  predecessors  who 
had  endured  like  her  the  black  ingratitude  of  the 
women  of  her  country  ?  Had  she  forgotten  that  the 
ladies  of  Philadelphia,  in  1776,  refused  to  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington similar  attention,  and  treated  with  scorn  the 
wife  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  who  was  using  every 
human  endeavor  to  organize  and  establish  a  conti- 
nental army?  Or  did  it  recur  to  her  that  a  time 
would  come  when,  like  Mrs.  Washington,  she  would 
again,  through  the  brightening  prospects  of  peace,  re- 
ceive the  flattering  adulation  of  those  very  persons, 
and  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  more  cultivated 
throughout  the  land  ?  Did  she  think  of  that  strong 
resolute  "  Portia"  of  the  Revolution  who,  in  her  mod- 
est home  near  the  sea,  denied  and  scorned  the  report 
that  her  husband  had  deserted  to  the  British,  yet  who 
patiently  submitted  to  the  averted  looks,  and  silent  re- 
proaches of  those  whom  she  deemed  her  friends,  and 
waited  for  the  storm  to  blow  over,  and  truth  once  more 
to  triumph  ?  Philadelphia  was  a  great  distance  then 
from  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  and  mails  were 
brought  only  at  rare  intervals,  but  with  her  strong 
faith  she  trusted  in  her  husband's  honor  and  felt  that 
it  was  not  betrayed.     Time  corrected  the  fabe  rumor, 


206  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

but  her  heart  had  been  deeply  wounded,  and  it  never 
forgot,  if  it  forgave,  the  conduct  of  many  who,  in  her 
hour  of  trial,  turned  against  her. 

Nervous  and  impatient,  Mrs.  Madison  waited  in 
her  inhospitable  quarters  for  the  President's  coming ; 
and  as  night  came  on,  her  mind  was  relieved  by  seeing 
him  approaching,  accompanied  by  the  friends  with 
whom  she  left  him  the  night  before.  He  was  care- 
worn and  hungry,  and  after  devouring  the  remnants 
of  her  scanty  meal,  sought  the  repose  he  so  needed. 
"  That  uneasy  and  humiliating  repose,  not  the  last  of 
Mr.  Madison's  degradations,  was,  however,  the  turning 
point  of  his  fortunes :  for  while  he  slept,  Ross  hastily 
and  clandestinely  evacuated  Washington,  victorand  van- 
quished alike  victims  of,  and  fugitives  from,  imagined 
perils.''  But  the  terrified  citizens  knew  not  that  the 
British  were  impotent,  and  dismayed  at  the  non-ap- 
pearance of  their  fleet.  Every  crash  of  thunder  was  to 
them  a  source  of  alarm,  and  its  rumblings  in  the  distant 
clouds  the  imagined  noise  of  approaching  troops.  Tow- 
ard midnight,  a  courier,  breathless  from  fatigue  and 
excitement,  warned  the  President  that  the  enemy  were 
comiug,  and  he  was  compelled  to  pass  the  rest  of  that 
miserable  night  in  a  hovel  in  the  distant  woods,  with 
the  boughs  sobbing  and  sighing  their  requiem  around 
him,  and  the  last  efforts  of  the  storm  expending  itself 
in  moans,  while  the  wind  swept  through  the  tall  trees. 
The  atmosphere  was  cooled  by  the  great  and  prolonged 
.storm,  but  all  nature  seemed  to  weep  from  exhaustion, 
and  the  stillness  of  the  closing  hours  of  the  night  were 
in  marked  contrast  to  the  roar  and  din  of  the  past 
twenty-four  hours. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  207 

Mrs.  Madison  was  warned  by  her  husband  to  use  a 
disguise,  and  leaving  her  carriage  and  companions,  pro- 
cure another  conveyance  and  fly  further.  Attended 
by  a  nephew  of  Judge  Duvall,  she  set  out  accompanied 
by  one  soldier,  and  at  the  dawn  of  day  left  the  inhospit- 
able inn  where  the  most  unhappy  night  of  her  life  had 
been  passed.  Her  carriage  and  four  horses  were  left  with 
her  friends,  and  a  substitute  obtained  from  a  gentleman 
of  Georgetown.  Soon  tidings  reached  her  that  Washing- 
ton was  evacuated,  and  retracing  her  steps,  she  reached 
after  a  weary  ride  the  Long  Bridge,  which  had  been 
burned  at  both  ends.  Here  the  officer  in  charge  positive- 
ly refused  to  let  an  unknown  woman  cross  in  a  carriage 
in  his  only  remaining  boat.  No  alternative  was  left  her 
but  to  send  for  him  and  explain  who  she  was,  when  she 
was  driven  in  her  carriage  upon  the  dangerous  little 
raft,  which  bore  her  nearer  home.  Reaching  Wash- 
ington, so  disguised  that  no  one  knew  her,  in  a  strange 
carriage,  she  found  her  former  home  in  ruins,  and  the 
noblest  buildings  reduced  to  blackened  heaps  of  smok- 
ing timber.  Desolation  met  her  on  every  side,  and  the 
deserted  streets  were  as  quiet  as  the  depths  of  tlte  for- 
est through  which  she  had  passed.  Fortunately  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Cutts,  lived  in  the  city,  and  she  repaired 
there  to  await  Mr.  Madison's  return.  "  The  memory 
of  the  burning  of  Washington  cannot  be  obliterated. 
The  subject  is  inseparable  from  great  international 
principles  and  usages.  It  never  can  be  thought  of  by 
an  American,  and  ought  not  to  be  thought  of  by  an 
enlightened  Englishman,  but  in  conjunction  with  the 
deplorable  and  reprehensible  scenes  it  recalls.     It  was 


208  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

no  trophy  of  war  for  a  great  nation.  History  cannot 
so  record  it.  Our  infant  metropolis  at  that  time  had 
the  aspect  of  merely  a  straggling  village,  but  for  the 
size  and  beauty  of  its  public  buildings.  Its  scattered 
population  scarcely  numbered  eight  thousand ;  it  had 
no  fortresses  or  sign  of  any ;  not  a  cannon  was 
mounted.11 

Late  in  the  morning,  news  reached  the  President  at 
his  hiding-place  in  the  hovel,  that  the  enemy  were  re- 
treating to  their  shipping — and  he,  too,  turned  his 
steps  toward  the  capital,  and  found  his  wife  before 
him.  He  rented  the  house  called  the  Octagon,  owned 
by  Colonel  Tayloe,  where  his  family  passed  the  winter, 
and  where  he  signed  the  treaty  of  peace. 

It  was  situated  on  the  north-east  corner  of  New 
York  Avenue  and  Eighteenth  street.  He  afterward 
removed  to  the  north-west  corner  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  and  Nineteenth  street,  where  he  resided  until 
the  President's  House  was  repaired.  This  house  had 
been  previously  occupied  by  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. On  F  street,  in  a  house  between  Thirteenth 
and  Fourteenth  streets,  now  numbered  246,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Madison  lived  when  he  was  Secretary  of 
State.     All  three  of  these  residences  still  remain. 

At  the  last  New  Year's  Reception  held  by  Presi- 
dent Madison,  he  was  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  cloth 
of  American  manufacture,  made  of  the  wool  of  rneri- 
noes  raised  in  the  United  States. 

"An  old  citizen  has  informed  me,"  says  Mr. 
Gobright,  in  his  "  Men  and  Things  at  Washington," 
"that    the    levee    of    Mr.    Madison,    in    February, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOrSE.  ~09 

1816,  was  remembered  for  years  as  the  most  bril- 
liant ever  held  up  to  that  date  in  the  Executive 
Mansion.  The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
present  in  their  gowns,  at  the  head  of  whom  was 
Chief  Justice  Marshall.  The  Peace  Commissioners 
to  Ghent — Gallatin,  Bayard,  Clay,  and  Eussell — 
were  in  the  company.  Mr.  Adams  alone  was 
absent  The  levee  was  additionally  brilliant — the 
heroes  of  the  war  of  1812.  Major-Generals  Brown, 
Gaines,  Scott,  and  Ripley,  with  their  aides,  all  in  full 
dress,  forming  an  attractive  feature.  The  return  of 
peace  had  restored  the  kindest  feeling  at  home  and 
abroad.  The  Federalists  and  Republicans  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  party  politicians,  citizens,  and 
strangers  were  brought  together  as  friends,  to  be 
thankful  for  the  present,  and  to  look  forward  with  de- 
light to  the  great  future. 

"The  most  notable  feature  of  the  evening  was 
the  magnificent  display  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
prominent  in  which  was  Sir  Charles  Bagot,  spe- 
cial ambassador  from  our  late  enemy,  Great  Brit- 
ain. 

"  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Mr.  Bagot  made  the 
remark,  that  Mrs.  Madison  '  looked  every  inch  a 
queen.1 

''The  only  incident  of  a  disagreeable  character  was 
the  coolness  toward  the  French  minister  (who  was 
very  popular  with  the  Republicans)  by  the  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Holy  Alliance. 

"  Mrs.  Madison,  like  Mr.  Clay,  was  very  fond  of 
snuff.  The  lady  offered  him  a  pinch  from  her  splendid 
14 


210  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

box,  which  the  gentleman  accepted  with  the  grace  for 
which  he  was  distinguished.  Mrs.  Madison  put  her 
hand  into  her  pocket,  and  pulling  out  a  bandanna 
handkerchief,  said,  '  Mr.  Clay,  this  is  for  rough  work,' 
at  the  same  time  applying  it  at  the  proper  place ;  '  and 
this,'  producing  a  fine  lace  handkerchief  from  another 
pocket,  '  is  my  polisher.'  She  suited  the  actions  to  the 
words,  removing  from  her  nose  the  remaining  grains  of 
snuff." 

Mrs.  Madison  at  this  time  was  represented  as  being 
a  very  gay  lady,  with,  much  rouge  on  her  cheeks,  and 
always  appearing  in  a  turban.  She  was  fond  of  bright 
colors  and  the  elegances  of  the  toilet ;  yet  she  gener- 
ally wore  inexpensive  clothing,  preserving  always  the 
simplicity  of  a  quaker,  wTith  the  elegance  of  a  South- 
erner. 

Two  plain  ladies  from  the  West,  passing  through 
Washington,  determined  to  see  Mrs.  Madison ;  but  as 
they  reached  there  late  at  night  and  were  to  leave 
early  next  day,  they  were  much  puzzled  to  know 
how  the  feat  should  be  performed.  Meeting  in  the 
street  an  old  gentleman  next  morning,  they  timidly 
approached  and  asked  him  to  show  them  the  way  to 
the  President's  House.  Being  au  old  acquaintance  of 
Mrs.  Madison's,  he  took  pleasure  in  conducting  the 
strangers  to  the  White  House.  The  President's  family 
were  at  breakfast  when  the  party  arrived,  but  Mrs. 
Madison  good-naturedly  went  in  to  be  seen  by  the 
curious  old  ladies,  who  wTere  evidently  much  astonished 
to  find  so  august  a  personage  in  a  dark-gray  dress  and 
white  apron,  with  a  linen  handkerchief  pinned  about 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  211 

her  neck.  Her  friendly  welcome  soon  put  them  at 
ease,  and  rising  to  leave,  after  a  visit  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, one  of  them  said,  "  P'rhaps  you  wouldn't  mind 
if  I  jest  kissed  you,  to  tell  my  gals  about."  Mrs. 
Madison,  not  to  be  outdone  by  her  guest's  politeness, 
gracefully  saluted  each  of  the  delighted  old  ladies, 
who  adjusted  their  spectacles  with  evident  admiration, 
and  departed. 

At  a  drawing-room  held  by  Mrs.  Madison  in  1813, 
"  General  Harrison  was  the  subject  of  a  dispute  be- 
tween a  lady  of  great  beauty  and  high  connections, 
and  the  President.  She  observed  when  she  went  in, 
that  General  Harrison  had  received  her  commands  to 
meet  her  at  the  levee.  '  But  that  he  cannot  do,'  said 
Mr.  Madison,  '  because  he  left  Washington  this  morn- 
ing, with  his  horses  and  attendants,  all  at  the  door  of 
this  house,  and  must  now  be  some  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  on  his  way  to  the  West.'  '  Still,'  replied  the  lady, 
archly,  '  he  must  be  here,  for  I  laid  my  command  upon 
him,  and  he  is  too  gallant  a  man  to  disobey  me.'  The 
President  rejoined,  with  his  manner  of  gentle,  but  pos- 
itive assurance,  'we  shall  soon  see  whose  orders  he 
obeys.'  The  question  was  presently  settled  by  the 
General's  appearance,  with  his  military  attendants,  in 
full  costume ;  the  lady  smiling  at  her  triumph  over  the 
most  successful  General  of  that  day  and  the  President 
of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Madison  was  a  silent,  grave  man,  whose  nature 
was  relieved  by  a  vein  of  quiet  good-humor,  which  in 
his  moments  of  relaxation  gave  an  inexpressible  charm 
to  his  presence.     A  statesman  of  vast  mind  and  re- 


212  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

search,  he  could  not  always  descend  to  the  graceful 
little  accomplishments  which  were  so  attractive  to  many- 
ladies,  and  hence  he  was  not  so  universally  admired 
by  the  fair  sex  as  his  charming  wife  was  by  the  gen- 
tlemen ;  but  nothing  gave  him  more  pleasant  satisfac- 
tion than  to  feel  that  Mrs.  Madison  could  do  credit  to 
both  in  the  drawing-room,  and  he  was  willing  to  be 
banished  to  his  cabinet. 

When  Mr.  Madison  was  attending  Congress  in  1*783, 
he  became  attached  to  an  interesting  and  accomplished 
young  lady,  daughter  of  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
who  was  a  co-signer  with  him  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.*  This  attachment,  which  promised  at 
one  time  the  most  auspicious  result,  terminated  at  last 
in  disappointment.  I  cannot  forbear  to  add  the  fol- 
lowing; extract  of  a  letter  addressed  to  him  on  the  occa- 
sionby  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  connected  with  an  event  which 
is  never  without  importance  in  the  life  of  a  man  of  vir- 
tuous sensibilities,  and  as  affording  a  touching  proof  of 
the  intimate  and  fraternal  sympathies  which  united  the 
two  friends. 

"  I  sincerely  lament,"  he  said,  "  the  misadventure 
which  has  happened,  from  whatever  cause  it  may  have 
happened.  Should  it  be  final,  however,  the  world  still 
presents  the  same  and  many  other  sources  of  happiness, 
and  you  possess  many  within  yourseK  Firmness  of 
mind  and  unintermitting  occupation  will  not  long 
leave  you  in  pain.  Xo  event  has  been  more  contrary 
to  my  expectations,  and  these  were  founded  on  what  T 

*  General  William  Floyd,  one  of  the  delegates  of  New  York. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  213 

thought  a  good  knowledge  of  the  ground.  But  of  al] 
machines,  ours  is  the  most  complicated  and  inexpli- 
cable." 

A  curious  coincidence  connected  with  three  of  the 
the  four  first  Presidents  is,  that  they  married  widows, 
and  each  had  been  at  a  previous  time  seriously  inter 
ested  in  other  ladies.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  nei- 
ther Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  or  his  successor, 
had  sons,  and  two  of  them  were  childless. 

Mrs.  Madison  was  not  a  learned  woman,  but  de- 
cidedly a  talented  one,  and  her  name  will  ever  be  a 
synonym  for  all  that  is  charming;  and  agreeable. 

A  warni  admirer  of  hers  was  convincing;  a  friend 
that  she  was  not  vain;  "But,"  said  the  other,  "  you  tell 
me  she  used  rouge  and  powder."  "  Yes,  yes,  she  did," 
he  replied,  "  but  it  was  to  please  and  gratify  those  who 
were  thrown  with  her,  not  because  she  was  fond  of 
admiration." 

An  anecdote  is  related  of  Mrs.  Madison  in  connec- 
tion with  Mrs.  Merry,  wife  of  the  British  Minister, 
and  Thomas  Moore,  the  poet.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merry 
were  invited  to  dine  with  President  Jefferson ;  when 
dinner  was  announced,  Mrs.  Madison  happened  to  be 
standing;  and  talking;  to  the  President,  at  some  dis- 
tance  from  Mrs.  Merry,  and  he  offered  his  arm  to  her 
and  conducted  her  to  the  table,  where  she  always  pre- 
sided when  no  members  of  his  family  were  present. 
This  attention  to  the  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
was  considered  by  Mrs.  Merry  as  an  insult.  "Such 
a  stir  was  made  by  the  angry  ambassador,  that  Mr. 
Madison  wrote  to  Mr.  Monroe  (who  had  succeeded 


214  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Mr.  King  as  our  Minister  to  England)  apprising  hirn 
of  the  facts,  to  enable  him  to  answer  an  expected  call 
of  the  British  Government  for  official  explanations. 
Mr.  Monroe,  however,  got  his  first  information  from  a 
friendly  British  under-secretary,  who  intimated  that  he 
would  soon  probably  hear  of  the  matter  through  a 
different  channel.  The  Minister  was  delighted.  "With- 
in a  very  short  period,  the  wife  of  an  English  under- 
secretary had  been  accorded  precedence  over  his  own, 
under  analogous  circumstances.  He  had  no  great  fund 
of  humor,  but  the  absurdity  of  the  whole  affair,  and 
the  excellent  materials  in  his  possession  for  a  reply  to 
a  call  for  explanations,  struck  him  in  a  most  amusing 
lioiit.  Shaking  with  merriment,  he  hinted  to  his  in- 
formant  the  satisfaction  the  call  would  give  him.  He 
never  afterward  heard  a  lisp  on  the  subject." 

President  Jefferson  had  abolished  all  etiquette  in 
regard  to  official  precedence  when  he  went  in  office, 
and  Mrs.  Merry  knew  this,  but  she  never  forgave  the 
occurrence,  and  never  afterward  went  to  the  White 
House.  Mrs.  Madison  regretted  being  the  innocent 
cause  of  such  a  trouble,  but  she  was  spared  further 
notoriety  by  the  absence  of  the  British  Minister  or  his 
family  ever  afterward  at  the  President's  reunions 
The  affair  was,  however,  not  destined  to  end  here,  for 
after  the  first  clamor  had  subsided,  the  President, 
through  another  foreign  Minister,  inquired  if  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Merry  would  accept  an  invitation  to  a  family  din- 
ner. It  was  understood  that  the}'  would  accept,  and 
Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  the  invitation  himself.  Mr.  Merry 
addressed  a  note  to  the  Secretary  of  State  to  know  if 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  215 

he  was  invited  in  his  private  or  official  capacity  ;  u  if 
in  the  one,  he  must  obtain  the  permission  of  his  sover- 
eign ;  if  in  the  other,  he  must  receive  an  assurance  in 
advance  that  he  would  be  treated  as  became  his  posi- 
tion.'' Mr.  Madison  ended  the  correspondence  with 
"  a  very  dry  note."  Thomas  Moore,  who  was  travel- 
ling in  the  United  States  at  this  time,  and  beino-  a 
friend  of  Mrs.  Merry's,  and  disgusted  with  his  recep- 
tion, ,:  fell  to  lampooning  the  President  and  every  thine 
American,  except  a  few  attentive  Federal  gentlemen 
and  ladies." 

In  1S17,  President  Madison's  term  expired,  and  his 
Secretary  of  State,  James  Monroe,  assumed  the  duties 
of  President.  Washington  had  so  long  been  the  home 
of  lira  Madison,  that  it  was  with  much  regret  she 
prepared  to  leave  the  city.  Many  and  dear  were  hei 
friends,  and  the  society  of  relatives  was  another  strong 
link  binding  her  to  the  city.  The  Xational  Republi- 
can of  November  '2d,  1S31,  thus  speaks  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Madison : 

"  How  must  they  look  in  these  days  on  the  tem- 
pestuous sea  of  liberty ;  on  the  dangers  incident' to  the 
little  barks  now  floating  on  its  agitated  surface.  Can 
they  feel  for  the  safety  of  that  on  which  embarked  the 
fortunes  of  Henry  Clay  1  We  hope  and  trust  they 
do ;  and  at  any  rate  we  rejoice  that,  safe  in  port,  they 
can  review  with  just  pride  and  pleasure  their  own  safe 
and  triumphant  voyage,  and  can  recollect  the  auspi- 
cious day  of  their  landing,  One  of  them  the  rallying 
point,  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  cabinet  in  all  of  its 
just  works,  and  the  other  the  chief  ornament  and  glory 


21G  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  the  drawing-room,  in  the  purest  and  most  intelligent 
days  of  our  Republic/' 

"  Always  fond  of  agricultural  pursuit?,  Mr.  Madi- 
son jovfullv  returned  to  his  beautiful  and  peaceful 
home.  Montpelier  was  within  less  than  a  day's  ride 
of  Monticello,  and  in  the  estimate  of  a  Virginian,  Mr. 
Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  were  neighbors. 

"  Embosomed  among  the  hills  which  lie  at  the  foot 
of  the  South  Mountain,  is  the  patera al  estate  of  Mr. 
Madison.  A  large  and  commodious  mansion,  designed 
more  for  comfort  and  hospitality  than  ornament  and 
display,  rises  at  the  foot  of  a  high  wooded  hill,  which, 
while  it  affords  shelter  from  the  north-west  winds,  adds 
much  to  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  scene.  The 
or-ouiids  around  the  house  owe  their  ornaments  more 

o  - 

to  nature  than  art,  as,  with  the  exception  of  a  fine  gar- 
den behind,  and  a  wide-spread  lawn  before  the  house, 
for  miles  around  the  ever- varying  and  undulating  sur- 
face of  the  ground  is  covered  with  forest  trees.  The 
extreme  salubrity  of  the  situation  induced  the  pro- 
prietorto  call  it  Montpelier. 

••  One  win^  of  the  house  during  her  life-time,  was 
exclusively  appropriated  to  the  venerable  and  vene- 
rated mother  of  Mr.  Madison,  to  which  were  attached 
offices  and  gardens,  forming  a  separate  establishment, 
where  this  aged  matron  preserved  the  habits  and  the 
hours  of  her  early  life,  attended  by  old  family  slaves, 
and  surrounded  by  her  children  and  grandchildren. 

"Under  the  same  roof,  divided  only  by  a  partition 
wall,  were  thus  exhibited  the  customs  of  the  beginning 
and  end  of  a  century ;    thus  offering  a  strange  but 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  217 

most  interesting  exhibition  of  the  differences  between 
the  olden  and  the  present  age.  By  only  opening  a 
door,  the  observer  passed  from  the  elegancies,  refine- 
ments, and  gayeties  of  modern  life  into  all  that  was 
venerable,  respectable,  and  dignified  in  gone-by  days  ; 
from  the  airy  apartments— windows  opening  to  the 
ground,  huug  with  light  silken  drapery,  French  furni- 
ture, light  fancy  chairs,  gay  carpets,  &c,  <fec,  to  the 
solid  and  heavy  carved  and  polished  mahogany  furni- 
ture darkened  by  age,  the  thick  rich  curtains,  and 
other  more  comfortable  adjustments  of  our  great- 
grandfathers' times.  It  was  considered  a  great  favor 
and  distinction  by  the  gay  visitors  who  thronged  Mrs. 
Madison's  hospitable  mansion,  to  be  admitted  to  pay 
the  homage  of  their  respects  to  his  reverend  mother." 
The  last  time  the  writer  *  enjoyed  that  privilege,  she 
was  then  in  her  ninety-seventh  year.  She  still  retained 
all  her  faculties,  though  not  free  from  the  bodily  in- 
firmities of  age.  She  was  sitting,  or  rather  reclining, 
on  a  couch;  beside  her  was  a  small  table  filled  with 
large,  dark,  and  worn  quartos  and  folios  of  most  vener- 
able appearance.  She  closed  one  as  we  entered,  and  took 
up  her  knitting  which  lay  beside  her.  Among  other  in- 
quiries, I  asked  her  how  she  passed  her  time,  "  I  am 
never  at  a  loss,"  she  replied,  "  this  and  these  (touching 
her  knitting  and  her  books)  keep  me  always  busy ;  look 
at  my  fingers,  and  you  will  perceive  I  have  not  been 
idle."  In  truth,  her  delicate  fingers  were  polished  by 
her  knitting-needles.     "  And  my  eyes,   thanks  be  to 

M.  H.  S.,  1836. 


218  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

God,  have  not  failed  me  vet,  and  I  read  most  part  of 
the  day;  but  in  other  respects  I  am  feeble  and  help 
leas,  and  owe  every  thing  to  her,"  pointing  to  Mrs, 
Madison,  who  sat  by  ns.  ;i  She  is  my  mother  now,  and 
tenderly  cares  for  all  my  wants.1'  My  eyes  were  filled 
with  tears  as  I  looked  from  the  one  to  the  other  of 
these  excellent  women,  and  thought  of  the  tender  ties 
by  which  they  were  united.  Never,  in  the  midst  of  a 
splendid  drawing-room,  surrounded  by  all  that  was 
courtly  and  brilliant,  all  that  was  admired  and  re 
spected — the  centre  of  attraction — the  object  of  ad- 
miration— never  was  Mrs.  Madison  so  interesting,  so 
lovely,  so  estimable,  as  in  her  attendance  on  this  ven- 
erable woman,  the  acknowledged  object  of  her  grate- 
ful affection. 

"  Much  as  she  graced  her  public  station,  she  has 
not  been  less  admirable  in  domestic  life.  Neighborly 
and  companionable  among  her  country  friends,  as  if 
she  had  never  lived  in  a  city;  delighting  in  the  society 
of  the  young,  and  never  better  pleased  than  when 
promoting  every  youthful  pleasure  by  her  participa- 
tion ;  she  still  proved  herself  the  affectionate  and  de- 
voted wife  during  the  years  of  suffering  health  of  her 
excellent  husband.  Without  nes:lectin^  the  duties  of 
a  kind  hostess,  a  faithful  friend  and  relative,  she 
soothed  and  enlivened,  occupied  and  amused,  the 
languid  hours  of  his  long  confinement ;  he  knew,  ap- 
preciated, and  acknowledged  the  blessing  which  heav- 
en had  bestowed  on  him  in  giving  him  such  a  wife.?' 

From  a  daughter  of  Virginia,  who  was  once  an  in- 
mate of  the  White  House,  I  have  gathered  the  follow- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  219 

ing  words  of  interest  from  a  letter  in  reference  to  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  : 

"  My  recollections  of  Mrs.  Madison  are  of  the  most 
agreeable  nature,  and  were  formed  from  a  long,  inti- 
mate acquaintance  beginning  in  my  childhood  and 
ending  only  with  her  life.  She  had  a  sweet,  natural 
dignity  of  manner  which  attracted  while  it  commanded 
respect;  a  proper  degree  of  reserve  without  stiffness  in 
company  with  strangers ;  and  a  stamp  of  frankness  and 
sincerity  which,  with  her  intimate  friends,  became  gay- 
ety  and  even  playfulness  of  manner.  There  was,  too 
a  cordial,  genial,  sunny  atmosphere  surrounding  her, 
which  won  all  hearts — I  think  one  of  the  secrets  of 
her  immense  popularity.  She  was  said  to  be,  during 
Mr.  Madison's  administration,  the  most  popular  person 
in  the  United  States,  and  she  certainly  had  a  remark- 
able memory  for  names  and  faces.  No  person  intro- 
duced to  Mrs.  Madison  at  one  of  the  crowded  levees 
at  the  White  House  required 'a  second  introduction  on 
meeting  her  again,  but  had  the  gratification  of  being 
recognized  and  addressed  by  his  or  her  own  name. 
Her  son,  Paine  Todd,  was  a  notoriously  bad  character. 
His  misconduct  was  the  sorrow  of  his  mother's  life. 
Mr.  Madison,  during  his  lifetime,  bore  with  him  like  a 
father  and  paid  many  of  his  debts,  but  he  was  an  in- 
corrigible spendthrift.  His  heartless,  unprincipled  con- 
duct embittered  the  last  years  of  his  mother's  life,  and 
no  doubt  shortened  it." 

At  about  sixty-six  years  of  age  Mr.  Madison  retired 
from  public  life,  and  ever  after  resided  on  his  estate  in 
Virginia,  except  about  two  months  while  at  Richmond 


220  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

as  a  member  of  the  convention  in  1829,  which  sat  there 
to  remodel  the  constitution  of  that  state.  His  farm, 
his  books,  his  friends,  and  his  correspondence,  were  the 
sources  of  his  enjoyment  and  occupation  during  the 
twenty  years  of  his  retirement.  During  most  of  that 
time  his  health,  never  robust,  was  as  good  as  usual,  and 
he  partook  with  pleasure  of  the  exercise  and  the  con- 
viviality in  which  he  had  always  enjoyed  himself. 

At  eighty-five  years  of  age,  though  much  reduced 
by  debility,  his  mind  was  bright,  his  memory  retentive, 
and  his  conversation  highly  instructive  and  "delightful. 
Suffering  with  disease  he  never  repined.  Serene  and 
even  lively,  he  still  loved  to  discuss  the  constitution,  to 
inculcate  the  public  good,  and  to  charge  his  friends 
with  blessings  for  his  countrv.  He  was  Ion?  one  of 
the  most  interesting  shrines  to  which  its  votaries  re- 
paired :  a  relic  of  republican  virtue  which  none  could 
contemplate  without  reverence  and  edification. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1836,  he  died;  as  serene, 
philosophical,  and  calm  in  the  last  moments  of  exist- 
ence as  he  had  been  in  all  the  trying  occasions  of  life. 

In  the  winter  of  1836.  Mrs.  Madison  wrote  to 
President  Jackson  in  regard  to  a  manuscript  left  by  her 
husband  aud  which  he  intended  for  publication.  The 
copyright  had  been  offered  to  several  publishing 
houses,  but  their  offers  had  fallen  so  far  below  her 
expectations  that  she  determined  to  lay  the  matter  be- 
fore the  Chief  Magistrate.  In  a  special  message,  the 
President  communicated  the  contents  of  her  letter  to 
Congress,  and  the  manuscript  was  purchased  as  a  na- 
tional work,  and  thirty  thousand  dollars  paid  her  for  it 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  221 

The  novel  and  interesting  features  of  the  case,  the 
venerable  relict  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Repub- 
lic coming  before  the  country  "with  a  manuscript  pre- 
cious in  its  relation  to  its  national  destiny,  were  such 
that  the  proposition  was  not  to  be  met  with  a  cold  ap- 
preciation of  merits,  or  with  nice  questions  of  congres- 
sional power.  It  was  this  feeling  also  which  induced 
Congress  to  pass  a  subsequent  act,  giving  to  Mrs. 
Madison  the  honorary  privilege  of  a  copyright  in  for- 
eign countries.  The  work  is  a  record  of  the  Debates 
in  the  congress  of  the  convention  during  the  years 
1782-1787. 

Congress  also  conferred  the  franking  privilege  upon 
Mrs.  Madison,  and  voted  her  a  seat  upon  the  floor  of 
the  Senate. 

The  last  twelve  years  of  Mrs.  Madison's  life  were 
spent  in  Washington,  where  she  mingled  in  the  society 
of  the  young  and  happy,  as  well  as  the  aged  and  re- 
cluse. Many  remember  her  dignified  bearing,  and 
gentle,  kind  manner  in  her  old  age,  and  it  was  consid- 
ered a  pleasure  to  be  a  guest  where  she  was  to  be 
present.  On  New  Years  and  Fourth  of  July,  she  held 
public  receptions,  and  the  throng  of  visitors  was  equal 
to  that  which  assembled  at  the  President's  house. 
She  took  up  her  residence  in  Washington  in  1837, 
in  the  house  in  which  she  died.  This  house  was 
built  by  President  Madison  in  1819;  after  her  death 
it  was  purchased  by  Captain  Wilkes  and  by  him 
enlarged.  Clark's  unpublished  reminiscences  contains 
the  following : — 

"  Mrs.  D.  P.  Madison,  the   venerable   widow  of 


222  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

James  Madison,  ex-President  of  the  United  States, 
died  on  the  12th  of  July.  1849,  at  her  residence  in 
Washington  City,  southeast  Darner  of  H  street.  North 
and  Madison  Place  :  aged  about  S2  years. 

k>  Beloved  by  all  who  personally  knew  her,  and  uni- 
versallv  respected,  this  venerable  lady  closed  her  long 
and  well-spent  life  with  the  calm  resignation  which 
goodness  of  heart,  combined  with  piety,  only  can  im- 
part. Her  funeral  took  place  on  the  16th,  from  St 
John's  Episcopal  Church.  Her  remains  were  deposited 
in  the  cemetery  at  Montpelier.  Virginia,  near  the  mon- 
ument erected  over  the  grave  of  her  illustrious  hus- 
band. 

'•  Out  of  the  twelve  pall-bearers  who  bore  her  re- 
mains to  the  tomb,  but  one  survives." 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  223 


MRS.  JAMES  MONROE. 

The  era  in  which  Mrs.  Monroe  lived,  was  the  most 
eventful  in  the  history  of  nations,  and  her  record 
is  of  interest  and  value,  in  a  twofold  degree.  The 
women  who  stamp  the  influence  of  their  virtues  on  a 
time  of  public  excitement  and  wonderful  changes, 
bear  in  their  natures  strength  of  character  worthy  of 
.emulation ;  and  they  become  the  benefactors  of  suc- 
ceeding ages,  as  they  were  the  blessings  of  their  own. 
The  memorials  of  such  should  be  familiar  to  the  chil- 
dren of  America,  who  under  the  genius  of  Republican 
institutions,  are  the  inheritors  of,  and  successors  to, 
their  fame  and  positions.  No  daughter  of  Columbia 
should  be  ignorant  of  the  history  and  experiences  of 
their  national  ancestors,  whose  lives  were  beautiful  in 
their  simplicity,  and  rich  in  varied  experiences. 

The  richest  treasure  our  country  possesses  is  the 
fame  of  her  children;  and  her  noblest  legacy  to  pos- 
terity should  be  the  annals  of  those,  who  by  their  tal- 
ents have  adorned,  and  by  their  wisdom  sustained,  the 
pioneers  of  liberty  in  their  first  weak  efforts.  Of  such 
a  class  was  Mrs.  Monroe,  whose  husband  for  half  a 
century  reaped  the  reward  of  his  country's  constancy, 
and  filled  in  that  period  more  important  offices  than 
any  other  man  in  the  United  States. 

Statesmen  in  this  country  are  too  often  forced  to 
give  way  to  politicians,  and  patriots  to  demagogues. 


224  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

The  perpetual  agitations  of  a  Republic  carry  up  on  the 
flood  those  who  in  turn  are  swept  down  with  the  tide; 
while  in  the  commotion  many  are  lost  to  history. 
But  this  is  less  the  case  with  Virginia  statesmen  than 
with  any  other  class  of  public  men.  "Whatever  may  be 
said  of  the  ingratitude  of  other  States,  the  u  Old 
Mother  "  has  been  true  to  her  children,  and  -the  caprice 
and  chaugeableness  of  younger  commonwealths  but 
renders  her  trust  and  confidence  the  more  conspicuous. 
And  if  she  has  trusted  implicitly  the  integrity  of  her 
offspring,  she  has  been  rewarded  by  the  love  and  fidel- 
ity of  the  noblest  public  men  of  the  nation. 

The  inauguration  of  Washington  at  New  York,  in 
1789,  was  followed  by  the  immediate  assembling  of 
Congress,  and  thither  went  Mr.  Monroe  as  Senator 
from  Virginia,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  the 
newly-appointed  Secretary  of  State. 

The  ancient  seat  of  the  Dutch  dynasty  on  this 
Continent  was  a  place  of  much  wealth ;  and  not  the 
least  of  its  possessions  were  the  bright-eyed,  rosy- 
cheeked  descendants  of  the  rich  old  Patroons,  wrhose 
delight  knew  no  bounds  when  their  city  was  chosen 
as  the  capital.  Xo  less  pleased  were  their  fathers  who, 
in  their  capacities  as  merchants  and  capitalists,  hoped 
to  achieve  new  honors  and  increased  wealth. 

The  festivities  which  subsequently  followed  the  in- 
auguration were  attended  by  all  the  members  of  Con- 
gress, who,  as  strangers  of  distinction,  received  the 
largest  share  of  the  young  belles1  attention.  Promi- 
nent among  these  belles  was  Miss  Eliza  Kortright, 
the  daughter  of  Lawrence  Kortright,  a  former  captain 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  225 

in  the  British  army.  After  the  peace  of  1783,  he  re- 
mained with  his  family  in  New  York,  where  his  chil- 
dren were  reared  and  educated.  Of  this  interesting 
family  there  were  one  son  and  four  daughters,  two  oi 
whom,  Mrs.  Hileger  and  Mrs.  Knox,  were  married, 
when  Congress  assembled  in  their  adopted  city. 

The  time  and  place  of  Mrs.  Monroe's  marriage  can- 
not be  definitely  ascertained,  as  no  record  has  been 
retained  by  any  of  her  survivors ;  but  it  must  have 
been  during  the  year  1789,  since  Congress  assembled 
there  but  one  term,  and  it  was  during  this  session  that 
Senator  Monroe  met  her.  Soon  after  their  marriage 
they  took  up  their  abode  in  Philadelphia,  whither  the 
seat  of  the  General  Government  had  been  removed. 
In  this  position  he  remained  until  1794,  when  he  war. 
appointed  from  the  Senate  to  be  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France.  Thus  is  shad- 
owed forth  the  five  years  of  Mrs.  Monroe's  life  suc- 
ceeding her  marriage.  Nothing  more  definite  can  be 
gathered.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  no  biographer 
of  her  day  anticipated  the  needs  of  a  coming  genera- 
don,  and  did  not,  with  all  the  facts  and  incidents  fresh 
in  his  mind,  give  an  impartial  account  of  the  every-day 
existence  of  the  woman  whose  memory  appeals  now  for 
justice.  She  had  her  troubles  and  trials,  her  triumphs 
and  pleasures,  doubtless,  for  no  station  is  exempt  from 
the  one,  or  bereft  of  the  other. 

Sketches  of  women  are  too  often  fulsome  panegyrics, 

alike  unjust  and  disgusting,  but  such  cannot  be  said  of 

the  admirers  of  Mrs.  Monroe.  Not  a  line  was  written  of 

her  during  her  life,  save  a  mention  after  her  husband's 

15 


226  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

election  to  the  Presidency,  nor  has  any  history  of  his 
life  been  written  from  which  to  glean  even-  a  mention 
of  her  name.  This  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  none 
of  the  public  libraries  of  New  York  or  Brooklyn,  is 
there  any  history  of  a  man  who  occupied  the  Presi- 
dential chair  eight  years,  and  whose  record  should  be 
the  inheritance  of  his  descendants.  A  brief  sketch, 
written  many  years  ago,  is  all  that  could  be  found, 
and  there  is  no  mention  of  his  wife  in  it. 

All  the  details  of  Mrs.  Monroe's  existence  are  lost, 
and  nothing  of  interest  remains. 

Misfortunes  and  sorrows,  those  blessings  of  a  Divine 
Spirit  through  whose  agencies  are  developed  every  la- 
tent gift,  are  forgotten  now,  for  the  meagre  incidents 
narrated  contain  no  allusion  to  the  inner  life  of  one 
who  for  so  many  years  counselled  as  wife  and  friend, 
and  shed  a  ray  of  light  on  the  pathway  of  Mr.  Monroe. 

Some  lives  there  are  filled  from  the  cradle  to  tke 
grave  with  all  material  gifts  requisite  for  happiness. 
Some  natures  there  are  never  called  to  suffer  agony ; 
gentle,  quiet  characters,  fragrantly  blossoming 
through  all  the  summer  of  their  existence,  and  only 
leaving  life  when  snows  and  wintry  weather  close  the 
avenues  of  enjoyment.  Such  lives  rarely  attain  for 
themselves  great  heights,  or  win  an  immortality,  but 
gliding  through  the  accustomed  haunts  of  men  receive 
their  impressions  from  stronger  natures  and  allow  some 
master  hand  to  influence  and  guide  their  lives.  With 
this  class  of  persons  happiness  is  their  only  possible 
means  of  expansion.  The  entire  formation  of  such 
characters  requires  absolute  prosperity  or  it  becomes 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  227 

dwarfed.  There  is  with  them  no  rebound,  no  reaction 
in  which  is  strength  to  loosen  the  inharmonious  bonds 
or  to  declare  themselves  free  agents,  accountable  tc 
their  own  inner  natures  for  any  external  error.  A  wo* 
man  of  this  mould  rightly  married  is  winged  for  a 
successful  life ;  discordantly  mated,  she  leads  an  au- 
tomaton existence  from  which  there  is  no  deliverance. 
If  such  lives  are  in  distinct  contradistinction  to  those 
intense  fibrous-nerved  persons  whose  joy  ofttimes  is  in 
the  heart  of  pain,  they  have  one  pleasing  reflection, 
that  if  in  their  negative  way  they  enjoy  less,  they  evi- 
dently escape  those  shafts  of  agony  which  bury  them- 
selves in  high-wrought  natures,  and  inspire  them  to 
deeds  of  greatness. 

Of  gentle  and  winning  manners  was  Mrs.  Monroe, 
and  possessed  of  a  face  upon  which  beauty  was  written 
in  unmistakable  lines.  '  Tall  and  gracefully  formed, 
polished  and  elegant  in  society,  she  was  one  fitted  to  re- 
present her  countrywomen  at  the  court  of  St.  Cloud. 
Her  position,  as  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  Virginia  Sena- 
tor, surrounded  by  luxury  and  prosperity,  proud  of 
her  husband  and  of  her  country,  was  calculated  to  en- 
hance the  pleasure  of  a  trip  to  Europe,  while  the  com- 
parative infrequency  of  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic 
heightened  the  pleasure  with  which  she  received  the 
announcement  of  his  appointment. 

Young  and  ambitious,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  ad- 
miration for  the  principles  of  a  free  government,  Mr. 
Monroe  left  the  shores  of  his  native  land,  whose  lib- 
erty he  had  so  recently  assisted  in  establishing.  He 
had  entered  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  cadet  in  a 


228  LADIES    OF    TEE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

corps  under  the  command  of  the  gallant  General  Mer- 
cer, of  Virginia.  Soon  afterward  he  was  appointed  a 
lieutenant,  and  joined  the  army  at  New  York.  Fol- 
lowing the  fortunes  of  the  "  chief,"  he  was  with  him  at 
Trenton,  Princeton,  Brandywine,  Germantown  and 
Monmouth.  Retiring  from  the  staff  of  Lord  Stirling, 
where  he  had  served  two  campaigns,  after  bein^ 
wounded  in  the  shoulder  at  Trenton,  he  repaired  to 
Virginia  to  raise  a  regiment.  From  various  causes  he 
failed  in  this  undertaking,  and  did  not  return  to  the 
army  but  entered  Mr.  Jefferson's  office  as  a  student  at 
law.  A  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from 
which  he  passed  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
we  find  him  from  his  earliest  boyhood  devoted  to  the 
land  of  his  birth,  and  serving  it  in  these  various  positions 
of  honor  and  eminence.  But  glowing  with  youthful 
admiration  for  the  Republic  he  had  left  behind,  he  was 
not  careful  to- conceal  his  feelings  in  imperial  France, 
and  hence  made  himself  unpopular  with  those  in 
power.  He  was  deemed  too  enthusiastically  engaged 
in  the  feelings  of  revolutionary  France  to  do  justice  to 
his  own  country,  and  he  was  recalled  by  Washington. 
In  August,  1792,  Lafayette  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Austrians,  and  after  being  thrown  like  a  criminal 
in  the  Prussian  dungeon  at  Wesel  on  the  Rhine,  was 
transferred  successively  to  Magdeburg,  Glatz,  Neisse, 
and  finally  to  Olmutz.  In  this  Austrian  dungeon  he 
was  convinced  by  the  rigor  of  his  confinement  and  the 
brutal  treatment  of  his  captors  that  his  fate  was  sealed. 
Down  in  his  dark  cell,  ten  paces  deep,  where  the  rain 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  229 

through  the  loop-holes  poured,  and  the  sun  did  not 
shine,  the  young  defender  of  American  liberty  lay 
chained,  while  the  weaiy  months  dragged  by,  and  no 
word  of  hope  or  certainty  of  death  came  from  his  wife 
and  children  left  behind  in  Paris.  Wasted  by  disease, 
deprived  of  light,  air,  and  decent  food, — the  loathsome 
dampness  and  'filth  of  his  dungeon  so  reducing  him 
that  his  hair  fell  from  him  entirely  by  the  excess  of 
his  sufferings,  his  cruel  tormentors  cheered  his  gloom 
and  oppression  by  no  word  or  look  of  sympathy. 
America  knew  the  fate  of  his  loved  ones,  and  while  his 
estates  were  confiscated,  his  wife  in  the  prison  of  La 
Force,  and  his  little  children,  two  of  whom  shared  the 
confinement  of  their  mother,  awaiting  the  wrath  of 
their  oppressors,  the  agents  of  the  country  whose  once 
hopeless  cause  he  had  espoused,  were  actively  employ- 
ed in  behalf  of  their  former  friend. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  Mrs.  Monroe  shared 
the  feeling  entertained  by  her  husband,  or  that  her 
warmest  womanly  Teelings  were  stirred  by  the  recital 
of  Madame  Lafayette's  woes.  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
was  adored  by  Americans,  and  the  indignities  heaped 
upon  his  heroic  wife  could  scarcely  be  borne  by  the 
Minister  and  his  family,  when  they  felt  that  the  death 
of  a  martyr  would  be  the  result  of  her  cruel  and  pro- 
tracted confinement.  The  lofty  position  America  had 
just  assumed  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  the 
respect  engendered  by  her  success,  rendered  her  Min- 
isters in  foreign  countries  objects  of  special  attention 
and  regard.  When  Mr.  Monroe  decided  to  risk  dis- 
pleasure by  sending  his  wife  to  see  Madame  Lafayette, 


230  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

he  appreciated  the  decided  effect  it  would  have  for 
good  or  evil.  He  well  knew  that  either  it  would  meet 
with  signal  success  and  be  of  benefit  to  his  unfortunate 
friend,  or  render  her  slight  claim  to  clemency  vet  more 
desperate.  Enlisted  as  his  feelings  were,  he  determin- 
ed to  risk  the  die,  and  Mrs.  Monroe  was  consulted  in 
regard  to  the  plan.  To  her  husband's  anxious  queries, 
she  rej)lied  calmly,  and  assured  him  of  her  ability  to 
control  and  sustain  herself. 

As  the  carriage  of  the  American  Minister,  adorned 
with  all  the  outward  emblems  of  rank,  halted  before 
the  entrance  of  the  prison,  the  keeper  advanced  to 
know  the  object  of  the  visit.  Mrs.  Monroe,  with  firm 
step  and  steady  voice,  alighted  and  made  known  her 
business,  and  to  her  surprise  was  conducted  to  the  re- 
ception room,  while  the  official  retired  to  make  known 
her  request.  Her  heart  beat  loudly  as  she  alone  lis- 
tened to  the  tread  of  the  jailer  as  he  closed  the  heavy 
door  and  passed  down  the  long  hall  which  separated 
the  cells.  After  a  lapse  of  time,  which  to  one  in  her 
nervous  state  seemed  an  age,  she  heard  the  footsteps 
returning,  and  soon  the  opening  of  the  ponderous  door 
discovered  to  her  astonished  view  the  presence  of  the 
emaciated  prisoner,  assisted  hj  her  guard. 

The  emotion  of  the  marchioness  was  touching  in 
the  extreme,  and  she  sank  at  the  feet  of  Mrs.  Monroe, 
unable  to  articulate  her  joy. 

All  day  she  had  been  expecting  the  summons  to 
prepare  for  her  execution,  and  when  the  silence  of  her 
cell  was  disturbed  by  the  approach  of  the  gendarmes, 
her  last  hope  was  fast  departing.     Instead  of  the  cruel 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  231 

announcement, — the  assurance  that  a  visitor  awaited 
her  presence  in  the  receiving-room  of  the  prison,  and 
on  finding;  in  that  visitor  the  American  Ambassadress, 
the  representative  of  her  husband's  adopted  home,  her 
long-pent  feelings  found  relief  in  sobs.  The  reaction 
was  sudden,  and  the  shock  more  than  her  feeble  frame 
could  bear. 

The  presence  of  the  sentinels  precluded  all  efforts 
at  conversation,  and  both  hesitated  to  peril  the  frail 
chance  of  life,  or  to  abuse  the  unheard-of  privilege  of 
an  interview.  After  a  painful  stay  of  short  duration 
Mrs.  Monroe  rose  to  retire,  assuring  her  friend  in  a 
voice  audible  to  her  listeners,  for  whom  it  was  intend- 
ed, that  she  would  call  the  following  morning,  and  then 
hastened  to  relieve  the  anxiety  of  her  husband. 

Madame  Lafayette's  long-delayed  execution  had  been 
decided  upon,  and  that  very  afternoon  she  was  to  have 
been  beheaded,  but  the  unexpected  visit  of  the  Minis- 
ters  wife  altered  the  minds  of  the  officials,  and  to  the 
surprise  of  all,  she  was  liberated  the  next  morning. 

The  prestige  of  the  young  Republic  was  appreciated 
by  the  French  in  power,  and  they  dared  not,  from 
motives  of  self-interest,  sacrifice  a  lady  in  whom  the 
American  Minister  was  so  directly  interested.  They 
had  not  forgotten  with  what  admiration  the  people  of 
the  United  States  looked  upon  her  husband,  the  Mar- 
quis de  Lafayette. 

Deaf  to  all  the  entreaties  of  her  friends,  and  firm 
in  her  determination  to  carry  immediate  consolation  to 
the  dungeon  of  her  persecuted  husband,  Madame 
Lafayette  sent  her  eldest  son,  George  Washington,  to 


232  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

America  for  safety,  to  the  care  of  General  Washington, 
and  she.  then  left  Paris  accompanied  by  her  two 
daughters  in  disguise,  and  under  the  protection  of 
American  passports. 

Passing  under  the  name  of  Mrs.  Motier.  she  landed 
at  Altona  on  the  ninth  of  September,  1795,  and  after 
repeated  difficulties  eventually  reached  the  prison, 
where  she  was  notified  that  if  she  passed  its  threshold, 
she  must  remain. 

The  heroic  woman  signed  her  consent  and  deter- 
mination, "  to  share  his  captivity  in  all  its  details,"  be- 
ing "  fully  determined  never  again  to  expose  herself 
to  the  horrors  of  another  separation." 

The  two  most  conspicuous  men  of  their  age,  George 
Washington  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  effected  by  their 
cooperation  the  release  of  Lafayette  and  his  deeply- 
injured  family, — the  former  after  an  imprisonment  of 
more  than  rive  years,  the  latter,  a  period  of  twenty-two 
months. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  recalled,  and  after  his  return  to 
America,  he  published  a  justification  of  his  conduct 
while  abroad;  the  pamphlet  settled  nothing,  but  justi- 
fied both  parties  in  the  views  which  they  had  taken. 

Thus  was  Mrs.  Monroe's  short  stay  in  Europe 
brought  to  a  termination.  In  many  ways  it  had 
been  pleasant  and  beneficial,  and,  although  she  re- 
gretted her  husband's  unfortunate  recall,  she  rather 
joyed  in  the  conduct  which  had  produced  this  result. 
Unacquainted  with  diplomacy  and  the  line  of  action 
necessary  between  nations,  she  allowed  her  own  feel- 
ings to  decide  her  movements,  and  honored  the  same 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  233 

spirit  in  her  husband.  The  privilege  of  being  a  succor 
and  means  of  relief  to  Madame  Lafayette  satisfied  her 
more  than  ministerial  honors,  and  she  would  rather 
have  performed  this  deed  prompted  by  Mr.  Monroe's 
advice  than  remained  the  wife  of  the  Ambassador. 

Paris  then,  as  now,  though  in  a  less  degree,  was 
the  centre  of  all  that  was  to  be  enjoyed,  and  Mrs. 
Monroe  did  not  regret  her  stay  there,  though  so  ab- 
ruptly ended.  This  first  trip  over  the  tedious  waters 
was  fraught  with  interest  and  improvement  to  both. 
New  fields  of  thought  were  explored  by  them,  and  the 
expanse  of  their  souls,  under  a  sense  of  freedom  and 
change,  gained  for  their  ultimate  happiness  more  than 
mere  worldly  honors  could  give  or  take  away. 

Thus  in  the  devious  windings  of  life  we  are  con- 
stantly reminded  that  after  the  lesson  is  the  application, 
and  experience  pronounces  both,  though  hard  to  bear, 
necessary  for  ultimate  progression. 

Mrs.  Monroe  returned  to  New  York  with  her 
husband,  who  was  looked  upon  as  a  disgraced  minister, 
and  being  the  first  who  had  been  so  designated,  was 
viewed  by  his  friends  with  deep  sympathy.  For  a  time 
the  society  of  her  family  and  friends  soothed  the  sensi- 
tive feelings  of  Mrs.  Monroe,  but  she  soon  afterwards 
accompanied  her  husband  to  Virginia,  where  he  was 
at  once  chosen  governor. 

This  evidence  of  affection  gladdened  the  hearts  of 
both  recipients,  and  during  the  constitutional  term  of 
three  years,  through  which  he  served,  Mrs.  Monroe 
added  to  the  dignity  and  success  of  his  official  life  by 
her  uniform   and  acceptable  course.     The  capital  of 


234  LADIES    OF    THE    WniTE    HOUSE. 

tlie  State  at  that  time  was  Williamsburg,  a  place  of 
refined  hospitality  and  sociability,  and  here  the  true 
beauty  of  the  Governors  wife  was  discovered  under 
the  most  delicate  circumstances,  as  well  as  during  the 
most  pleasing  occasions. 

After  President  Jefferson  cjme  into  power,  he  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Monroe  Envoy  Extraordinary  to  the 
Court  of  Frauce,  to  act  with  Mr.  Livingston  in  ne^o- 
tiating  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  As  soon  as  he 
arrived  on  the  French  soil,  Mr.  Livingston  wrote  as  fol- 
lows  to  him  : — 

Pabis,  10th  of  April,  1803. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  congratulate  you  on  vour  safe  ar- 
rival.  We  have  long  and  anxiously  wished  for  you. 
God  grant  that  your  mission  may  answer  your  and 
the  public  expectation.  War  may  do  something  for 
us ;  nothing  else  would.  I  have  paved  the  way  for 
you,  and  if  you  could  add  to  my  memoirs  an  assurance 
that  we  were  now  in  possession  of  Xew  Orleaus,  we 
should  do  well.  But  I  detain  Mr.  Beutalon,  who  is  im- 
patient to  fly  to  the  arms  of  his  wife.  I  have  apprized 
the  minister  of  your  arrival,  and  told  him  you  would 
be  here  on  Tues'day  or  Wednesday.  Present  my  com- 
pliments and  Mrs.  Livingston's  to  Mrs.  Monroe,  and 
believe  me,  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

Robert  R.  Livtxgstox. 

After  the  business  of  the  treaty  was  arranged,  Mr. 
Monroe  was  sent  as  Minister  to  London,  to  succeed  Mr. 
King,  who  wished  to  return  home.     From  there  he 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  235 

was  ordered  to  Spain,  which  country  he  visited  by 
way  of  Paris.  Mrs.  Monroe  accompanied  him  in  all 
his  wanderings,  and  returned  with  him  to  England 
soon  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Pitt. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  minister  to  England  when  the  at- 
tack  upon  the  frigate  Chesapeake  placed  the  two  coun- 
tries already  irritated,  in  a  hostile  attitude,  and  finding 
his  position  at  the  St.  James  anything  but  pleasant,  he 
returned  to  this  country.  Thus  did  Mrs.  Monroe  spend 
almost  ten  years  in  Europe,  returning  only  when  the 
country  was  plunging  again  into  a  second  war  with  the 
mother  land.  She  gladly  sought  retirement  at  Oak 
Hill,  her  husband's  Virginia  home,  and  the  following 
years  passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  serene  pleasures 
of  country  life.  Mr.  Monroe,  engaged  during  the  day 
in  reading  and  taking  the  general  supervision  of  his 
plantation,  left  her  the  care  of  their  two  daughters, 
and  the  household  duties,  which  in  a  Virginia  home 
were  always  arduous. 

But  this  quiet  home  life  was  not  destined  to  last, 
and  the  husband  and  father  resumed  the  duties  of  a 
politician,  and  was  elected  to  the  Legislature.  In  a 
few  months  he  was  again  chosen  Governor  of  the  old 
commonwealth,  and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  that  office  until  chosen  Secretary  of  State  by  Presi- 
dent Madison. 

AVhen  the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  Mrs.  Monroe 
was  living  in  Washington  City,  dispensing  the  duties 
of  a  minister's  wife  and  enjoying  the  society  of  her 
two  daughters. 

As  the  strife  came  nearer   home  and  the  capital 


236  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

was  threatened,  she  returned  to  Oak  Hill,  and 
there  remained  until  peace  was  finally  proclaimed. 
Anxious  and  uneasy  about  her  husband,  who  was  ever 
beside  the  President,  she  yet  felt  that  her  place  was  at 
her  own  home,  that  he  might  feel  assured  of  the  safety 
of  herself  and  children. 

In  1817,  Mr.  Monroe  became  President  of  the 
United  States  and  removed  his  family  to  the  White 
House,  where  they  continued  to  reside  during  both 
terms  of  his  administration.  Mrs.  Monroe  was  spoken 
of  at  this  time  by  the  leading  paper  of  the  day  as 
follows : — 

"Mrs.  Monroe  is  an  elegant,  accomplished  woman. 
She  possesses  a  charming  mind  and.  dignity  of  man- 
ners which  peculiarly  fit  her  for  her  elevated  station. 
Her  retired  domestic  habits  will  be  much  annoyed  by 
what  is  here  called  society,  if  she  does  not  change  the 
etiquette  (if  it  may  be  called  so),  established  by  Mrs. 
Washington,  Adams,  and  Madison,  a  routine  which  her 
feeble  constitution  will  not  permit  her  to  encounter. 
To  go  through  it,  she  must  become  a  perfect  slave  to 
the  sacrifice  of  her  health.  The  secretaries,  senators, 
foreign  ministers,  consuls,  auditors,  accountants,  officers 
of  the  navy  and  army  of  every  grade,  farmers,  mer- 
chants, parsons,  priests,  lawyers,  judges,  auctioneers 
and  nothingarians — all  with  their  wives  and  some  with 
their  gawky  offspring,  crowd  to  the  President's  house 
every  Wednesday  evening;  some  in  shoes,  most  in 
boots,  and  many  in  spurs;  some  snuffing,  others  chew- 
ing and  many  longing  for  their  cigars  and  whiskey- 
punch   left  at   home.     Some   with    powdered   heads, 


LADIES    OP    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  237 

others  frizzled  and  oiled,  with  some  whose  heads  a 
comb  has  never  touched,  half  hid  by  dirty  collars, 
reaching  far  above  their  ears  as  stiff  as  paste-board.'"  j 

And  an  English  writer  comments  in  a  similar  strain: 

"  Mrs.  Monroe  is  a  lady  of  retired  and  domestic 
habits,  not  ungraceful  and  apparently  very  amiable. 

"  Having  resided  in  Europe  with  her  husband,  she 
has  acquired  some  of  its  manners  and  a  good  deal  of 
its  polish.  She  receives  company,  but  returns  no 
visits ;  she  seems  more  attached  to  the  silence  and 
peace  of  obscurity,  than  the*  bustle,  confusion  and  glare 
of  public  assemblies.  But  to  preserve  a  custom  estab- 
lished by  her  predecessor,  a  lady  it  is  said,  of  great 
elegance  of  manners  and  much  dignity  of  deportment, 
she  gives  what  are  termed  '  drawing  rooms'  for  the  pur- 
pose of  gratifying  the  wishes  and  curiosity  of  such 
strangers  as  may  please  to  visit  her  and  the  President. 

"  These  drawing  rooms  are  conducted  on  principles 
of  republican  simplicity,  and  are  widely  different  from 
the  magnificence  and  splendor  of  the  English  levees. 
They  appeared  to  me,  however,  very  unpleasant ;  the 
rooms  are  so  crowded,  the  hum  of  voices  so  loud,  and 
the  motion  of  the  company  so  incessant,  that  the  possi- 
bility of  continuing  a  conversation  on  any  subject  is 
wholly  precluded,  and  you  are  jostled  every  instant 
without  the  power  of  enjoying  the  '  feast  of  reason,' 
or  even  the  pleasure  of  the  senses." 

The  White  House  had  been  partly  rebuilt  when 
Mr.  Monroe  became  President,  but  it  possessed  but  few 
comforts  and  no  elegance.  The  furniture  was  not  of 
the  kind  nor  quality  befitting  the  house  of  the  Chief 


238  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Magistrate,  and  the  debris  of  the  former  ill-fated 
building  lay  in  heaps  about  the  mansion.  The  country 
being  once  more  at  peace,  Congress  ordered  Consul 
Lee,  then  residing  at  Paris,  to  purchase  a  silver  service 
of  plate,  which  was  forwarded  at  once,  and  which  has 
continued  in  use  until  replaced  by  a  more  modern  and 
expensive  set  in  March,  '69. 

About  the  same  time  was  bought  for  the  East  Koom 
the  furniture  which  now  adorns  that  funious  apartment. 
When  the  purchase  was  made  in  Paris,  each  article 
was  surmounted  by  the  royal  crown  of  Louis 
XVIII.  This  ornament  of  gilt  was  removed,  and  the 
American  Eagle  substituted  before  it  was  sent  from 
France.  To  the  thoughtful  mind  this  furniture  is  of 
interest  in  so  far  as  it  recalls  the  dead  who  have  long 
since  crumbled  back  to  dust,  yet,  whose  memory  is 
associated  with  the  chairs  and  ottomans  still  remaining 
where  they  were  placed  years  ago.  True,  they  have 
been  often  repaired,  but  the  original  eagles  are  as  bright 
as  when  they  left  the  shores  of  the  Empire,  to  grace 
the  house  of  the  Republic. 

Mrs.  Monroe  mingled  but  little  in  the  society  of 
Washington,  and  always  secluded  herself  from  the  ob- 
servation of  the  throng.  Her  health  was  frail  during 
the  latter  years  of  her  life  in  the  White  House,  and  she 
became  more  than  ever  a  recluse. 

In  a  recent  publication  there  is  a  copy  of  an  old 
letter  written  by  Mr.  Cooper,  in  which  he  thus  men- 
tions a  dinner  and  a  reception  at  the  White  House 
during  Mr.  Monroe's  time. 

"  On  this  occasion  we  were  honored  with  the  pres- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  239 

ence  of  Mrs.  Monroe,  and  two  or  three  of  her  female 
relatives.  Crossing  the  hall  we  were  admitted  to  a 
drawing-room,  in  which  most  of  the  company  were 
already  assembled.  The  hour  was  six.  By  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  guests  were  men,  and  perhaps  two- 
thirds  were  members  of  Congress. 

"  There  was  great  gravity  of  mien  in  most  of  the 
company,  and  neither  any  very  marked  exhibition,  nor 
any  positively  striking  want,  of  grace  of  manner.  The 
conversation  was  commonplace,  and  a  little  sombre, 
though  two  or  three  men  of  the  world  got  around  the 
ladies,  where  the  battle  of  words  was  maintained  with 
sufficient  spirit.  ******  To  me  the  enter- 
tainment had  rather  a  cold  than  a  formal  air.  "When 
dinner  was  announced,  the  oldest  Senator  present 
(there  were  two,  and  seniority  of  service  is  meant") 
took  Mrs,  Monroe  and  led  her  to  the  table.  The  rest 
of  the  party  followed  without  much  order.  The 
President  took  a  lady,  as  usual,  and  preceded  the  rest 
of  the  guests. 

"  The  dining-room  was  in  better  taste  than  is  com- 
mon  here,  being  quite  simple  and  but  little  furnished. 
The  table  was  lars;e  and  rather  handsome.  The  service 
was  in  china,  as  is  uniformly  the  case,  plate  being  ex- 
ceedingly rare,  if  at  all  used.  There  was,  however,  a 
rich  plateau,  and  a  great  abundance  of  the  smaller 
articles  of  table  plate.  The  cloth,  napkins.  &&,  etc., 
were  fine  and  beautiful. 

'•The  dinner  was  served  in  the  French  style,  a  little 
Americanized.    The  dishes  were  handed  around,  though 


240  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 

some  of  the  guests,  appearing  to  prefer  their  own  cus- 
toms, coolly  helped  themselves  to  what  they  found  at 
hand. 

"Of  attendants  there  were  a  good  many.  They 
were  neatly  dressed,  out  of  livery,  and  sufficient.  To 
conclude,  the  whole  entertainment  might  have  passed 
for  a  better  sort  of  European  dinner-party,  at  which 
the  guests  were  too  numerous  for  general  or  very 
agreeable  discourse,  and  some  of  them  too  new  to  be 
entirely  at  their  ease. 

"  Mrs.  Monroe  arose,  at  the  end  of  the  dessert,  and 
withdrew,  attended  by  two  or  three  of  the  most  gal- 
lant of  the  company. 

';  Xo  sooner  was  his  wife's  back  turned  than  the 
President  reseated  himself,  inviting  his  guests  to  imi- 
tate the  action.  After  allowing  his  guests  sufficient 
time  to  renew,  in  a  few  glasses,  the  recollections  of 
similar  enjoyments  of  their  own,  he  arose  himself,  giv- 
ing the  hint  to  his  company,  that  it  was  time  to  rejoin 
the  ladies. 

"  In  the  drawing-room  coffee  was  served,  and  every 
one  left  the  house  before  nine.C!' 

&  $  :■:  *  :£  :-c 

"  On  the  succeeding  Wednesday,  Mrs.  Monroe  open- 
ed her  doors  to  all  the  world.  No  invitation  was  neces- 
sary, it  being  the  usage  for  the  wife  of  the  President 
to  receive  company  once  a  fortnight  during  the  session, 
without  distinction  of  persons.  We  reached  the 
White  House  at  nine.  The  court  (or  rather  the 
grounds)  was  filled  with  carriages,  and  the  company 
was  arriving  in  great  numbers.     On  this  occasion,  two 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  241 

or  three  additional  drawing-rooms  were  opened,  though 
the  frugality  of  Congress  has  prevented  them  from 
finishing  the  principal  reception- room  of  the  building. 
I  will  acknowledge  the  same  sort  of  surprise  I  felt  at 
the  Castle  Garden  fete,  at  finding  the  assemblage  so 
respectable  in  air,  dress,  and  deportment.  The  evening 
at  the  White  House,  or  drawing-room,  as  it  is  some- 
times pleasantly  called,  is,  in  fact,  a  collection  of  all 
classes  of  people  who  choose  to  go  to  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  appearing  in  dresses  suited  to  an  ordinary 
evening  party.  I  am  not  sure  that  even  dre33  is  much 
regarded,  for  I  certainly  saw  a  good  many  there  in 
boots.  The  females  were  all  neatly  and  properly 
attired,  though  few  were  ornamented  with  jewelry. 
Of  course,  the  poor  and  laboring  classes  of  the  com- 
munity would  find  little  or  no  pleasure  in  such  a  scene. 
The  infamous,  if  known,  would  not  be  admitted,  for  it 
is  a  peculiar  consequence  of  the  high  tone  of  morals  in 
this  country,  that  grave  and  notorious  offenders  rarely 
presume  to  violate  the  public  feeling  by  invading 
society* 

"  Squeezing  through  the  crowd,  we  achieved  a  pas- 
sage to  a  part  of  the  room  where  Mrs.  Monroe  was 
standing,  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  female  friends. 
After  making  our  bow  here,  we  sought  the  President. 
The  latter  had  posted  himself  at  the  top  of  the 
room,  where  he  remained  most  of  the  evening,  shaking 
hands  with  all  who  approached.  Near  him  stood  all 
the  secretaries,  and  a  great  number  of  the  most  dis* 

*  This  was  nearly  fifty  years  ago. — Author.  / 

16 


242  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

tinguished  men  of  the  nation.  Individuals  of  import- 
ance from  all  parts  of  the  Union  were  also  here,  and 
were  employed  in  the  manner  usual  to  such  scenes. 
Besides  these,  one  meets  here  a  great  variety  of  people 
in  other  conditions  of  life.  I  have  known  a  cartman 
to  leave  his  horse  in  the  street  and  go  into  the  recep- 
tion-room to  shake  hands  with  the  President.  He 
offended  the  good  taste  of  all  present,  because  it  was 
not  thought  decent  that  a  laborer  should  come  in  a 
dirty  dress  on  such  an  occasion;  but  while  he  made  a 
trifling  mistake  in  this  particular,  he  proved  how  well 
he  understood  the  difference  between  government  and 
society.  He  knew  the  levee  was  a  sort  of  homage  paid 
to  political  equality  in  the  person  of  the  First  Magis- 
trate, but  he  would  not  have  presumed  to  enter  the 
house  of  the  same  person  as  a  private  individual, 
without  being  invited,  or  without  a  reasonable  excuse 
in  the  way  of  business.1,1 

After  Mr.  Monroe  retired  from  office,  he  returned 
to  his  home  in  Loudon  County,  and  engaged  with 
Messrs.  Jefferson  and  Madison  in  establishing  the 
University  of  Virginia.  This  occupation  formed  a 
pleasant  pastime  to  him,  and  was  of  lasting  benefit  to 
his  beloved  State.  Afterward,  he  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  Virginia  Convention  to  amend  the  Con- 
stitution of  his  native  State.  Meanwhile  Mrs.  Monroe 
found  womanly  employment  for  hands  and  heart  in 
caring  for  those  dependent  upon  her  bounty,  and  en- 
tertaining the  various  throngs  who  delighted  to  do 
honor  to  the  three  ex-Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
and  sons  of  the  old  commonwealth. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  243 

Her  two  daughters  were  married  and  gone  from 
home,  the  eldest,  Eliza,  the  wife  of  Judge  Hay,  of 
Virginia,  and  Maria,  wedded  to  her  first  cousin  Samuel 
L.  Gouverneur,  of  Xew  York.  She  was  now  alone  and 
becoming  aged,  and  was  pleasing  herself  with  the  de- 
lusion that  after  so  many  years  of  public  life,  her  hus- 
band would  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  with  her, 
around  the  fireside.  But  he  felt  as  if  he  could  never 
cease  to  serve  Virginia.  Long  after  his  duty  to  his 
country  had  been  performed  and  she  had  dismissed 
him  with  plaudits  and  laurel  wreaths,  he  struggled 
under  accumulated  infirmities  and  trials,  and  to  the 
last  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  his  State.  The  last 
public  position  he  held  was  a  magistracy  in  the  county 
of  Loudon,  where  he  resided,  and  was  as  attentive  and 
devoted  to  the  performance  of  every  duty  as  when 
holding  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people. 

Mrs.  Monroe  died  suddenly  in  1830,  and  thus  was 
ended  the  old  hornedife.  Oak  Hill  was  closed,  and  the 
crushed  husband  sought  refuse  from  loneliness  in  the 
home  of  his  voun^est  daughter,  whose  devoted  affec- 
tiou  soothed  his  pathway  to  the  grave. 

Less  than  a  year  after  Mrs.  Monroe's  death  her 
husband  was  preparing  to  join  her  in  her  spirit-home. 
On  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  the  anniversary  of  Ameri- 
can Independence,  just  five  years  after  his  predecessors 
had  quitted  this  scene  of  their  labor  and  their  tri- 
umph, he,  too,  joined  them,  and  past  the  shadow  of 
death  he  was  reunited  with  the  friends  of  his  earth- 
life. 

"  There  is  a  quiet,  beautiful  cemetery  on  the  north 


244  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

side  of  Second  street,  in  this  city  (New  York)  between 
First  and  Second  Avenues,  separated  from  the  side- 
walk by  a  tall  *iron  fence,  placed  upon  a  granite  foun- 
dation. 

The  shrubbery  is  always  clean  and  vigorous ;  the 
grass  is  always  the  greenest,  and  the  walks  are  scru- 
pulously  neat.  There  are  many  tasteful  and  appropri- 
ate monuments  to  the  dead  that  sleep  within  this  beau- 
tiful inclosure ;  but  to  the  memory  of  the  most  famous 
of  its  dumb  inhabitants  there  is  no  marble  shaft,  no 
obelisk,  not  even  a  head-stone,  erected.  But  upon  a 
simple  slab  of  marble  that  lies  flat,  some  two  feet 
square,  upon  the  earth,  and  is  almost  covered  by  gras3, 
is  the  following  inscription : 

JAMES  MONROE, 

ROBERT   TILLOTSON, 

vault  No.  147. 

There  is -nothing  to  indicate  that  the  James  Mon- 
roe  mentioned  is  the  Monroe  who  was  in  the  battle 
of  White  Plains,  and  received  a  ball  in  the  shoulder  at 
the  attack  on  Trenton,  who  fought  by  the  side  of  La- 
fayette at  Brandywine,  who  was  Minister  to  France  in 
1794,  and  afterward  to  England ;  who  was  Secretary 
of  State  in  1811,  and  for  two  full  terms  President  of 
these  United  States.  Yet  such  is  the  fact,  and  that 
weather-stained  slab  of  marble,  two  feet  square,  is  all 
the  monument  that  Ex-President  Monroe  has.  It  is  a 
curious  neglect  that  leaves  the  precious  dust  of  one  of 
the  pvrest  patriots  that  our  country  has  been  blest 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  245 

with,  to  rest  in  such  obscurity.  Thousands  pass  every 
day  by  the  spot  admiring  the  well-kept  grounds,  paus- 
ing for  the  fragrance  of  the  flowering  shrubs,  listening 
to  the  songs  of  the  birds  that  find  this  oasis  in  the 
city's  desert,  but  never  dreaming  that  the  author  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  fourth  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  lies  within  a  few  feet  of  them. 

Monuments  to  men  of  half  his  intellectual  stature, 
and  a  tithe  of  his  industry  and  goodness  of  heart,  are 
going  up  all  over  the  land.  Shall  he  who  was  re- 
elected to  the  Presidency  by  a  vote  unanimous  with  a 
single  exception,  and  who  never  disgraced  his  position 
have  no  more  than  this  ?  As  Mr.  Monroe  was  a  Vir- 
ginian, it  is  the  supposition  of  most  people  that  he 
died  and  was  buried  within  the  Old  Dominion,  but 
this  is  an  error. 

Mr.  Monroe,  in  his  last  days,  resided  with  Samuel 
Gouverneur,  late  postmaster  of  this  city  (New  York) 
who  married  his  daughter ;  their  residence  was  on  the 
corner  of  Prince  and  Elm  Streets. 

The  venerable  Dr.  Francis  tells  us  that  he  often 
met  Mr.  Monroe  walking  out  when  the  weather  was 
fine,  and  that  on  these  occasions  he  was  the  object  of 
the  most  affectionate  attentions.  He  has  often  met 
him  making  purchases  for  the  family,  at  the  Centre 
Market,  where  all  the  stallmen  knew  and  honored  him. 

He  was  tall  and  spare,  very  modest -in  his  bearing, 
dignified  and  gentlemanly.  In  his  address,  he  was 
hesitating  and  diffident,  and  polite  to  the  poorest  and 
humblest  as  to  any.  He  was  one  of  the  most  indus- 
trious of  men,  a  hard  student,  and  his  cares  left  their 


24G  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

marks  on  hie  face.  The  wound  that  lie  received  at 
Trenton  was  felt  for  many  years  afterward — indeed, 
throughout  all  Lis  life  lie  occasionally  suffered  from  it. 

His  last  illness  was  a  long  and  tedious  one.  His 
attendant  was  Lis  son-in-law's  family  physician,  Dr. 
Berger.  He  expired  at  10y  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  1th  of  July,  1831. 

His  funeral  was  a  very  imposing  one — the  largest 
that  at  that  time  had  ever  been  seen  in  ZSTew  York. 
The  military,  under  Gen.  Jacob  Morton,  Grand 
Marshal,  filled  Broadway  from  Prince  to  Broad  Street, 
through  which  it  passed  to  the  cemetery.  The  day  was 
fine,  and  the  signs  of  mourning  were  generally  adopted 
by  our  citizens. 

The  vault  in  which  his  dust  -till  lies, is  on  the  east 
side  of  the  cemetery,  just  to  the  right  of  the  main  walk 
as  you  look  in  from  the  entrance.  The  passer-by  will 
note  a  small  pole,  on  which  a  dove-house  is  perched 
Within  a  yard  of  that  pole  is  the  sacred  spot.* 

Many  years  afterward,  by  order  of  the  Virginia 
Legislature,  the  remains  of  Ex- President  Monroe  were 
removed  to  Pdchmond,  and  a  monument  befitting  his 
glorious  past  deeds  reared  above  him. 

The  property  of  Oak  Hill  is  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Fairfax,  and  about  one  thousand  acres  of  land.  Three 
hundred  acres  are  comprised  in  the  McGowan  estate. 

The  second  daughter  of  President  Monroe,  Mrs. 
Maria  Gouverneur,  died  in  1850  at  Oak  Hill,  where  she 
was  buried  by  the  side  of  her  mother.  There  are  at 
this  time  but  few  descendants  of  Mrs.  Monroe ;  two 

•  Fr:ra  an  old  new-paper  printed  more  than  thirty  rears  ago. 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  247 

grandsons  and   several  great-grandchildren,  comprise 

the  number  now  living. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

The  tale  is  quickly  told,  the  history  soon  written 
of  such  a  life  as  was  Mrs.  Monroe's.  Little  of  interest 
or  variety  is  there  connected  with  one  whose  identity 
was  so  completely  merged  in  her  husband's  existence. 
She  has  passed  on,  leaving  only  here  and  there  a  link 
to  form  a  chain  of  events,  by  which  to  weave  the 
barest  outlines. 

At  this  short  remove  from  her  day,  we  are  discour- 
aged in  every  effort  to  obtain  facts  and  incidents.  She 
lived  in  the  bosom  of  her  small  family,  serenely  happy 
in  her  retirement,  and  the  memory  of  so  quiet  an  exis- 
tence is  swallowed  up  in  the  ever-varying  changes  of 
time. 


248  LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 


MRS.  JOHN  QUIXCY  ADAMS. 

It  was  the  happy  fortune  of  Mrs.  Adams  to  be  the 
occupant  of  the  "  White  House"  when  Lafayette  visited 
the  United  States,  and  at  the  request  of  the  President 
he  spent  the  last  weeks  of  his  stay  at  the  Executive 
Mansion,  and  from  there  on  the  7th  of  September, 
1825,  bade  an  affecting  farewell  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption.  As  the  last  sentence  of  the  farewell  ad- 
dress was  pronounced,  Lafayette  advanced  and  took 
President  Adams  in  his  arms,  while  tears  poured  down 
his  venerable  cheeks.  Returniug  a  few  paces,  he  was 
overcome  by  his  feelings,  and  again  returned  and  fall- 
ing  on  the  neck  of  Mr.  Adams,  exclaimed  in  broken 
accents,  "  God  bless  you."  The  sighs  and  tears  of  the 
many  assembled,  bore  testimony  to  the  affecting  solem- 
nity of  the  scene.  Having  recovered  his  self-posses- 
sion, the  General  stretched  out  his  hands,  and  was  in  a 
moment  surrounded  by  the  greetings  of  the  whole  as- 
sembly, who  pressed  upon  him,  each  eager  to  seize,  per- 
haps for  the  last  time,  that  beloved  hand  which  was 
opened  so  freely  for  our  aid  when  aid  was  so  precious, 
and  which  grasped  with  firm  and  undeviating  hold  the 
steel  which  so  bravely  helped  to  achieve  our  deliver- 
ance. The  expression  which  now  beamed  from  the 
face  of  this  exalted  man  was  of  the  finest  and  most 
touching  kind.  The  hero  was  lost  in  the  father  and 
the  friend.     Dignity  melted  into  subdued  affection,  and 


uhaj^6o^    Ga/SCeytA/yiX    JLdxxrvvUj 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUoE,  249 

the  friend  of  Washington  seemed  to  linger  with  a 
mournful  delight  among  the  sons  of  his  adopted 
country. 

A  considerable  period  wa3  then  occupied  in  con- 
versing with  various  individuals,  while  refreshments 
were  presented  to  the  company.  The  moment  of  de- 
parture at  length  arrived ;  and  having  once  more 
pressed  the  hand  of  Mr.  Adams,  he  entered  the  ba- 
rouche, accompanied  by  the  Secretaries  of  State,  of 
the  Treasury,  and  of  the  Navy,  and  passed  from  the 
capital  of  the  Union. 

The  whole  scene — the  peals  of  artillery,  the  sounds 
of  numerous  military  bands,  the  presence  of  the  vast 
concourse  of  people,  and  the  occasion  that  assembled 
them,  produced  emotions  not  easily  described,  but 
which  every  American  heart  can  readily  conceive. 

Mrs.  Adams  was  the  sixth  in  the  succession  of  oc- 
cupants of  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  with  her  closed 
the  list  of  the  ladies  of  the  Revolution.  A  new  gen- 
eration had  sprung  up  in  the  forty-nine  years  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  after  her  retirement,  younger  aspirants 
claimed  the  honors.  Born  in  the  city  of  London  on 
the  12th  of  February,  1775,  she  received  advantages 
superior  to  those  enjoyed  by  most  of  the  ladies  of 
America.  Her  father,  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland,  al- 
though living  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  in  England, 
was  ever  a  patriotic  American,  and  soon  after  hostili- 
ties commenced,  removed  with  his  family  to  Nantes,  in 
France.  "  There  he  received  from  the  Federal  Congress 
an  appointment  as  Commissioner  to  examine  the  ac- 
counts of  all  the  American  functionaries  then  entrust- 


250  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ed  with  the  public  money  of  the  United  States,  in  Eu- 
rope ;  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  which  he  con- 
tinued until  the  peace  of  1782.  Oar  National  Inde- 
pendence having  then  been  recognized,  he  returned  to 
London,  where  he  continued  to  reside,  and  where  he 
acted  as  consular  agent  for  the  United  States  until  his 
final  return  in  1797,  to  his  native  soil." 

It  was  fortunate  for  Mrs.  Adams  that  her  husband 
was  a  strong,  intellectual  nature  ;  he  both  satisfied  and 
sustained  her,  and  rendered  her  sojourn  on  eaith  con- 
tented and  agreeable.  In  her  father's  house  in  Lon- 
don  he  first  saw  her,  in  1794,  and  on  the  26th  of  July, 
1797,  they  were  married  at  the  church  of  All-Hallows. 
Soon  afterward  his  father  became  President,  and  he 
was  transferred  to  Berlin,  where  he  repaired  with  hi3 
wife  as  a  bride,  to  play  her  part  in  the  higher  circles 
of  social  and  political  life.  It  need  scarcely  be  added 
that  she  proved  perfectly  competent  to  this ;  and  that 
during  four  years,  which  comprised  the  period  of  her 
stay  at  that  court,  notwithstanding  almost  continual 
ill-health,  she  succeeded  in  making  friends  and  concili- 
ating a  degree  of  good  will,  the  recollection  of  which 
is,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  believed  to  be  among 
the  most  agreeable  of  the  associations  with  her  varied 
life.  In  1801,  after  the  birth  of  her  eldest  child,  she 
embarked  with  Mr.  Adams  on  his  return  to  the  United 
States.  Not  to  Maryland,  the  home  of  her  childhood, 
but,  a  stranger  to  their  habits  and  manners,  she  went 
among  the  New  England  people,  and  settled  with  her 
husband  in  Boston.  Here  she  determined  to  be  satis- 
fied and  live  with  a  people  whom  in  feeling  she  was  not 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  251 

unlike,  but  scarcely  was  she  beginning  to  feel  at  Lome 
when  Mr.  Adams  was  elected  Senator,  and  she  re- 
moved  with  him  to  "Washington.  A  sister  was  already 
established  there,  and  she  met  once  more  the  members 
of  her  own  family,  where  to  her  the  winter  months 
passed  pleasantly  away.  Each  summer  she  returned 
to  Boston,  and  thus  alternating  between  there  and 
Washington  in  winter,  she  passed  the  pleasant  years  of 
Jefferson's  term.  To  many,  the  capital  was  an  out  of 
the  way  place,  and  not  always  pleasant  to  Congress- 
men's wives  who  left  the  gaieties  of  larger  cities  to  be 
detained  six  or  ei<rht  months :  but  Mrs.  Adams  was 
peculiarly  fortunate  in  her  position,  having  around  her 
near  and  dear  relations  from  whom  she  had  been  sepa- 
rated many  years.  It  became  home  to  her,  and  to  a 
Southerner,  the  climate  was  more  congenial  than  the 
regions  of  her  husband's  birthplace. 

Mr.  Adams,  called  by  President  Madison  to  embark 
for  Russia  as  its  first  accredited  minister,  Mrs.  Adams 
determined  to  go,  even  at  the  cost  of  leaving  her  two 
eldest  children  with  their  grandparents,  and  taking 
with  her  a  third,  not  yet  two  years  old.  They  sailed 
from  Boston  early  in  August,  and  after  a  long  and 
somewhat  hazardous  passage  arrived  in  St.  Petersburg 
toward  the  close  of  October. 

What  voyages  those  must  have  been,  when  nearly 
three  months  was  consumed  in  getting  from  one  coun- 
try to  another ;  when  weary  weeks  of  summer  merged 
into  winter  ere  the  barrier  between  the  old  and 
the  new  world  could  be  passed.  Yet  howr  often 
had   members   of    that   family   braved    dangers   un- 


252  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

known  to  perform  some  duty  in  the  other  world.  Far 
back  into  the  past,  their  Puritan  ancestors  had  found  e 
refuge  on  "wild  New  England's  shore,"  and  in  that 
interval,  the  waters  of  the  sea  had  wafted  the  children 
of  the  third  and  fourth  generations  over  its  crested 
waves,  to  ask  for  the  heritage  their  forefathers  claimed 
■ — liberty  of  conscience  and  actions,  and  freedom  to 
worship  God. 

Years  before,  a  brave,  strong  woman  had,  w7ith 
streaming  eves,  seen  the  form  of  her  eldest  boy  start 
over  the  same  track  he  was  now  treading,  and  she  had 
gone  back  to  her  lonely  home  to  suffer.  Now,  through 
its  well-known  and  treacherous  path,  that  son,  grown 
to  man's  estate,  with  children  of  his  own  left  behind, 
wends  his  tedious  way,  to  bear  to  the  halls  of  remotest 
nations  the  wishes  and  intentions  of  his  young  country. 

His  wife,  preferring  an  uncertain  exile  in  a  foreign 
country  to  a  separation  from  her  husband,  suffered 
extremest  anguish  as  she  thought  of  her  weeping  chil 
dren,  for  the  first  time  separated  from  her.  She  felt 
the  great  distance  and  uncertain  prospects  of  hearing 
from  them,  not  less  keenly  than  she  did  the  length  of 
time  which  might  elapse  ere  she  again  would  tread  the 
shores  of  her  native  land.  And  the  blaak  climate  to 
which  she  was  hastening  in  no  wise  tended  to  make 
her  cheerful ;  nor  did  the  fact,  that  Mr.  Adams  was  the 
first  Minister,  allay  her  anxious  sadness.  Never,  per- 
haps, in  the  histoiy  of  the  world,  were  such  scenes 
being  enacted  as  now.  Europe  was  literally  a  battle- 
field, and  Napoleon,  the  scourge  of  the  continent,  was 
ruling,  by  the  mighty  force  of  his  great  skill,  the  de» 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  253 

tinies  of  the  old  world.  Shut  up  in  St.  Petersburg, 
Mra.  Adams  gathered  rumors  of  the  progress  of  that 
u  man  of  destiny,'1  and  listened  for  his  knock  even  at 
the  gates  of  the  imperial  capital. 

During  the  six  years  of  her  stay  in  Russia,  what 
wondrous  things  transpired !  What  intense  interest 
marked  the  era,  we,  of  comparative  quiet,  can  scarcely 
conceive.  Death  took  from  her  an  infant,  born  whilst 
there,  and  the  twofold  affliction  of  public  and  private 
trouble  weighed  upon  her. 

"  Mr.  Adams  lived  there,  poor,  studious,  ambitious, 
and  secluded,  on  the  narrow  basis  of  the  parchment 
of  his  commission,  respected  for  learning  and  talents, 
but  little  given  to  the  costly  entertainments  of  an 
opulent  and  ostentatious  court  circle.  But  the  extra- 
ordinary mission  could  afford  and  was  entitled  to  more 
expensive  circulation  in  the  splendid  palaces  of  a  magni- 
ficent city,  inhabited  by  the  owners  of  thousands  of 
serfs,  and  some  of  them  of  Ural  Mountains  containing 
mines  of  gold."  Living  frugally,  withdrawn  from  all 
but  indispensable  parade,  Mr.  Aclams  laid  the  basis 
of  a  modest  competency  for  his  return  to  America, 
whose  official  acquisition  American,  republican  parsi- 
mony induces,  if  not  justifies." 

The  war  between  England  and  America  broke  out 
in  the  mean  time,  and  communication  was  almost  entire- 
ly cut  off.  British  ships  cruised  about  our  ports  to 
capture  peaceful  vessels,  and  thundered  their  cannon 
at  the  capital  of  the  country.  While  Mrs.  Adams  grew 
tired  and  weary  of  her  cheerless  abode  in  that  far, 
northern  climate,  British  troops  were  busy  devasta. 


254  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 

ting  the  country  round  about  her  old  home,  and  burn 
ing  the  mansion  which  later  in  life  she  was  to  occupy. 
Completely  cut  off  from  all  that  made  life  dear,  Mr. 
Adams  hoped  for  some  opportunity  to  be  recalled,  and 
restore  his   divided  family  to   each  other.     Emperor 
Alexander  unconsciously  prepared  the  way  for  their' 
return  by  proposing  to  be  mediator  for  England  and  the 
United  States.  In  consequence  of  this  offer,  the  Commis- 
sioners repaired  to  St.  Petersburg  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Payne  Todd,  the  step-son  of  President  Madison,  whose 
simple  position  in  America  was  exaggerated  by  Euro- 
pean  mistake  to   princely   position.      "Architecture, 
luxury,   and   comfort    combined   their    attractions   in 
palaces  warmed  by  double  windows  and  heated   air- 
flues  to  the  temperature  of  delightful  summer  weather, 
while  the  cold  without  was  intense   and  destructive. 
Costumes  of  oriental  richness,  precious  ornaments,  furs 
of  excessive  price,  and  labor  so  low  that  large  retinue 
and  costly  equipages  are  the  least  expensive  outlays  of 
noble  households.     The  most  delicious  fruits  from  hot- 
houses, far-fetched  game  of  the  mildest  flavor,  tea  by 
land   carriage  in  caravans,  transported  five  thousand 
miles  from  China,  incomparably  better  and  much  dearer 
than  the  costly  sea-born  and  sea-sweated  beverage  so 
much  sought  in  America  and  England.     The  purest 
cofi'ee  of  Mocha,  wines  of  every  wine-growing  region 
are  the  common  fare  of  the  entertainments  of  Russian 
nobles  of  countless  riches  and  continual  fetes,  where 
much  more  numerous  assemblies  than  elsewhere  meet 
in  the  freedom  of  social  enjoyments  to  counteract  the 
rigors  of  climate,  and  from  the  terrible  severities  of 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  255 

despotic  government,  seek  that  solace  by  which  almost 
every  mortal  privation  is  somehow  compensated.  The 
younger  members  of  the  American  mission  fonud  in 
such  enjoyments  compensation  for  its  political  failure, 
while  their  seniors  were  treated  with  general  and  im- 
perial attention."  Their  coming  was  a  source  of  pleas- 
ure to  Mrs.  Adams,  whose  time  had  been  spent  so 
quietly,  and  it  was  her  hope  to  return  with  them . ;  but 
while  the  commissioners  enjoyed  themselves  with  the 
sights  of  the  Russian  capital,  great  changes  were  tak- 
ing place  on  the  Continent,  and  they  were  unaware 
how  radical  they  were.  The  return  ship  to  the  United 
States  brought  the  news  to  Boston  that  Napoleon  was 
banished  to  Elba,  Louis  the  XVIII.  propped  on  the* 
throne  of  his  ancestors  by  foreign  armies,  and  England 
was  at  the  zenith  of  her  power  and  greatness.  Never 
were  the  prospects  of  republican  America  so  low  since 
its  independence,  and  the  hearts  of  those  patriots 
trembled  when  they  thought  of  the  future.  The  Rus- 
sian mediation  failed,  but  the  commissioners  afterward 
met  at  Ghent,  where  delays  succeeded  each  other  un- 
til on  Christmas  eve,  Saturday,  24th  December,  1814, 
the  treaty  was  signed.  It  was  the  desire  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Adams  to  have  returned  home  this  winter,  but 
the  failure  of  the  commissioners  at  St.  Petersburg  ne- 
cessitated the  presence  of  Mr.  Adams  at  Ghent,  and  it 
was  thought  best  she  should  remain  in  Russia.  The 
state  of  Europe,  rocking  and  unsettled,  was  con- 
sidered another  argument  in  favor  of  her  remaining, 
and  consequently  Mr.  Adams  set  out  without  her. 
Alone    in    that    place    where    she    had    lived    five 


25G  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

years,  where  she  bad  buried  one  cbild,  and  where  she 
hoped  her  husband  would  soon  rejoin  her,  she  passed 
the  sixth  winter,  aud  wished  only  for  the  spring 
to  come  to  release  herself  and  son  from  their  ex- 
ile. How  her  heart  must  have  yearned,  in  days 
short  only  because  the  darkness  was  so  long, 
for  her  little  ones  over  the  wide  Atlantic,  and 
with  what  zeal  must  she  have  prepared  for  that 
homeward-bound  trip,  so  near  in  anticipation,  yet  in 
reality  so  far  off.  But  her  trial  was  in  proportion  to 
her  strength,  and  if  she  did  not  go  home,  her  children 
came  to  her  afterward.*  Spriug  at  last  came,  on  the 
almanac  at  least,  if  not  in  the  gorgeous  beauty  it  was 
-wont  to  appear  in  her  far-off  southern  home,  and  she 
was  advised  to  travel  by  land  to  rejoin  her  husband 
at  Paris,  whither  he  had  gone  from  Ghent.  The  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  of  a  land  route  thronsrh.  the  late 
theatre  of  a  furious  war,  had  no  influence  to  bear  upon 
her  determined  idea  to  go,  and  braving  solitary  jour- 
neys, rogues,  and  dangers  of  every  conceivable  kind, 
set  on  with  her  child  to  travel  to  France.  Hers  must 
have  been  an  indomitable  spirit,  else  the  lonely  days 
of  constant  motion  through  villages  and  wild,  uncul- 
tivated  countries,  where  ever)'  iuanimate  thing  bore 
traces  of  grim- visage d  war,  would  have  convinced  her 


*  Mrs.  Adams  had  four  children,  three  sons  and  a  daughter. 
1.  George  Washington  Adams;  horn  in  Berlin,  12th  April,  1801.  2.  John 
Adams,  horn  in  Boston,  4th  July,  1S03.  3.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  horn 
in  Boston,  August  18th,  1S07.  4.  Louisa  Catharine  Adam?,  born  in  St. 
Petersburg,  August  12th,  1811,  and  died  there  the  next  year. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  ~Ji 

of  the  risk  she  was  running.  With  the  passports  of 
the  Russian  government,  and  the  strong  recommenda- 
tion of  being  the  American  ministers  wife,  she  bade 
adieu  to  all  apprehensions  and  risked  all  to  only  get 
nearer  home  and  children.  uIn  such  circumstances, 
to  be  fastened  in  a  snow-drift  with  night  coming  on. 
and  to  be  forced  to  rouse  the  peasants  of  the  surround- 
ing country  to  dig  them  out,  which  happened  in  Cour- 
land,  was  no  slight  matter.  But  it  was  of  little  signifi- 
cance compared  to  the  complicated  anxieties  incident 
to  the  listening,  at  every  stopping-place,  to  the  tales 
of  robbery  and  murder  just  committed  on  the  pro- 
posed route,  so  perpetually  repeated  at  that  time  to 
the  traveller ;  and  to  the  warnings  given  by  apparently 
friendly  persons  of  the  character  of  her  own  servants. 
corroborated  by  the  loss  of  several  articles  of  value, 
and,  most  of  ail,  to  the  observation  of  the  restless  con- 
tention between  jarring  political  passions  under  which 
the  whole  continent  of  Europe  was  heaving  until  it 
burst  forth  at  the  return  of  Xapoleon  from  Elba 
Hardly  a  day  passed  that  did  not  require  of  Mrs 
Adams  some  presence  of  mind  to  avoid  becoming  im- 
plicated in  the  consequences  of  party  fury.  For  even 
the  slight  symbol  of  a  polish  cap  on  the  head  of  her 
servant  came  near  making  food  for  popular  quarrel. " 

On  her  way  she  heard  of  Napoleon's  return  from 
Elba,  heard  that  a  little  brig  and  three  transports  had 
borne  back  to  France  the  nation's  idol.  All  along  the 
route  she  witnessed  the  effect  of  the  most  marvellous 
act  of  Napoleon's  life,  "and  yet/'  adds  Abbott,  "then; 
was  nothing  in  it  rash  or  inconsiderate.  He  was  driven  to 
*     17 


25S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

it  by  inexorable  circumstances.  He  could  no  longer  re« 
main  in  safety  at  Elba.  The  Allies  recognized  no  sanctity 
in  their  oaths.  They  had  already  violated  their  solemn 
treaty,  and  were  meditating  a  piratic  expedition  for 
the  seizure  of  his  person.  He  could  not  flee  in  dis- 
guise, to  be  hunted  a  fugitive  over  the  face  of  the 
earth.  There  was  no  resource  open  before  him  but 
boldly  to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  people 
of  France,  who  still  loved  him  with  deathless  constan- 
cy. His  resolve  was  honorable  and  noble."  As  Mrs. 
Adams  approached  Paris  through  the  hostile  country 
of  the  Allies,  Napoleon  with  his  few  hundred  men  had 
commenced  his  march  of  seven  hundred  miles  through 
a  kingdom  containing  thirty  millions  of  inhabitants, 
to  capture  the  strongest  capital  in  Europe.  "  An  army 
of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  men  under  Bourbon 
leaders,  and  stationed  in  impregnable  fortresses  by  the 
way,  and  the  combined  despots  of  Europe,  had  two 
millions  of  bayonets  still  glistening  in  the  hands  of 
their  soldiers,  all  of  which  were  pledged  to  sustain  the 
iniquitous  sway  of  the  Bourbon  usurpers.  Bomance 
in  her  wildest  dreams  never  conceived  of  such  an  en- 
terprise before.  Yet  the  adventure  had  been  carefully 
considered,  and  profound  wisdom  guided  every  step. 
The  millions  of  France  loved  Napoleon  almost  to  adora- 
tion. He  knew  it ;  and  he  knew  that  he  deserved  it. 
Napoleon  was  well  aware  that  all  the  great  elements  of 
success  were  in  his  favor,  and  he  had  no  misgivings." 
Mrs.  Adams  found,  a3  she  neared  Paris,  the  dangers  to 
which  she  was  exposed,  and  dismissing  her  servants 
who  were  afraid  to  so  farther,  hired  others  and  con- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  25S 

tmued  her  approach,  to  her  husband.  But  every  cross 
road  and  tangled  path  was  filled  with  soldiers  wild 
with  enthusiasm,  rushing  forward  to  join  their  great 
chief,  and  at  one  time  she  found  herself  surrounded 
by  them.  This  was  a  very  awkward  position,  as  the 
troops  seemed  disposed  to  require  from  all  around 
them  the  most  unequivocal  declaration  of  political  faith. 
Mrs.  Adams  appealed  to  the  commander  of  the  de- 
tachment, and  by  his  advice  she  was  enabled  to  fall 
back,  although  not  without  the  exercise  of  consider- 
able  prudence,  until  the  last  of  the  men  had  passed, 
when  she  diverged  into  another  road,  and  by  making 
a  considerable  circuit,  avoided  any  further  meeting. 

Having  proved,  in  this  manner,  that  calmness  and 
presence  of  mind  render  many  things  perfectly  prac- 
ticable which  imagination  at  first  invests  with  insuper- 
able difficulties,  she  arrived  in  Paris  safe  and  well, 
there  to  be  greeted  by  her  husband,  on  the  evening 
of  the  21st  of  March,  1815,  immediately  after  that  of 
the  memorable  arrival  of  Napoleon  and  the  flight  of 
the  Bourbons. 

It  was  the  privilege  of  Mrs.  Adams  to  witness  the 
adoration  of  the  French  for  their  Emperor,  and  to  see 
with  what  enthusiastic  delight  they  greeted  his  appear- 
ance, at  a  window  or  balcony  of  the  Tuileries.  With 
what  pleasure  she  must  have  listened  to  the  account 
of  his  entry ;  crossing  the  bridge  of  Concorde,  and 
dashing  at  full  galop  along  the  quay  of  the  Tuile- 
ries, he  entered  the  court-yard  of  the  palace  by  the 
arched  gallery  of  the  Louvre  ;  and  of  the  frantic  joy 
of  the  people  as  they  bore  him  aloft  in  their  arms, 


260  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

amid  deafening  cheers  to  the  entrance  and  up  the 
great  staircase  into  the  saloon  of  reception,  where  a 
splendid  array  of  the  ladies  of  the  imperial  court, 
adorned  with  a  profusion  of  violet  bouquets  half-con- 
cealed in  the  richest  laces,  received  him  with  transports, 
and  imprinted  fervent  kisses  on  his  cheeks,  his  hands, 
and  even  his  dress.  Never  was  there  such  a  scene 
witnessed  in  history,  and  it  was  worth  years  of  pain 
to  listen  to  the  myriad  voices  shouting;  their  Vive 
I'Emperenr  !  and  to  read  in  each  happy  face  the  heart- 
felt welcome  extended  to  their  exiled  Emperor. 
Curses  followed  the  retreating  footsteps  of  the  imbe- 
cile old  man  who  was  a^ain  beerstinsT  the  combined 
power  to  reinstate  him  on  his  throne,  but  Napoleon's 
throne  was  in  the  bosoms  of  the  people,  and  every* 
where  excitement  prevailed  as  the  Imperial  troop3 
gathered  for — Waterloo. 

The  advantages  thus  thrown  in  the  way  of  an 
American  woman  were  justly  appreciated  by  Mrs. 
Adams,  and  she,  free  from  prejudice,  studied  the 
strange  perversities  of  fortune.  The  events  of  the 
hundred  days  were  enough  to  crowd  the  memory  of  a 
life-time,  and  fills  us  at  this  day  as  we  ponder  over 
them,  with  awe  and  amazement.  All  was  activity  and 
eagerness,  all  bustle  and  confusion.  The  armies  were 
reviewing  in  the  square  of  the  Place  Carousel,  and 
the  inspiriting  notes  of  martial  music  added  grandeur 
to  the  grandness  of  the  time  and  place.  Perhaps  we 
of  a  later  ceneration  understand  the  sublimity  of  the 
scenes  through  which  she  was  passing  better  than  she 
at  the  time  could  comprehend.     Throughout  Europe 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  261 

Napoleon  was  belied  and  blasphemed,  and  scurrilous 
abuse  Leaped  upon  bis  name ;  but  to  us  be  -was  tbe 
"Man  of  Destiny,'1  and  tbe  day  for  speaking  con- 
temptuously of  bim  bas  passed.  Tbe  few  who  are 
malevolent  toward  him  are  to  be  pitied  rather  than 
scorned.  "  Some  persons  cannot  discern  difference  of 
colors ;  others  cannot  perceive  discord  or  harmony ; 
and  there  are  those  who  are  incapable  of  appreciating 
grandeur  of  character.  They  are  not  to  be  judged 
harshly.     It  is  their  misfortune." 

Passing  events  are  not  so  sublime  to  spectators  as 
they  appear  to  those  who  come  upon  the  scene  after 
the  drama  is  concluded ;  then  history  rehearses  it  over 
again,  and  cautiously  the  motives  are  examined  and 
judgment  accorded.  After  Napoleon  has  been  dead 
nearly  half  a  century,  the  children  of  another  genera- 
tion rise  up  to  vindicate  his  greatness.  "  In  death  he 
has  become  the  victor  over  all  his  foes.  Every  gener- 
ous heart  now  does  homage  to  his  lofty  character. 
France  has  reared  for  him  a  mausoleum  which  is  a  na- 
tion's pride,  and  he  is  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen  as  monarch  was  never  enthroned  before." 
But  Mrs.  Adams,  an  actor  on  the  stage  herself,  could 
not  feel  the  glow  which  prevades  the  hearts  of  her  de- 
scendants, as  they  live  over  in  imagination  the  every- 
day occurences  of  her  life  in  Paris,  yet  she  felt  reward- 
ed for  the  effort  she  had  made  to  reach  it,  and  ever 
considered  it  anions;  the  most  fortunate  events  in  her 
existence. 

The  arrival  of  her  children  in  England,  from  whom 
she  had  been  separated  since  the  autumn  of  1809, 


262  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

nearly  six  years,  was  of  more  interest  to  her  than  the 
events  happening  around  her.  On  the  25th  of  May, 
1815,  Mr.  Adams  arrived  in  London  with  his  family, 
and  soon  afterward  learned  that  he  was  appointed 
Minister  to  the  court  of  St.  James.  The  impression 
made  upon  the  most  eminent  circles  during  his  resi- 
dence in  London,  has  been  retained  up  to  the  present 
time.  "  His  simple  habits,  his  plain  appearance,  his 
untiring  industry,  his  richly  stored  mind,  his  unbend- 
ing integrity,  his  general  intercourse  and  correspond- 
ence with  foreign  courts  and  diplomatists  of  the  great- 
est distinction,  all  tended  to  elevate,  in  a  high  degree, 
the  American  character  in  the  estimation  of  European 
nations." 

Mrs.  Adams  had  advantages  in  London  which 
scarcely  any  American  woman  has  ever  had  since ;  true, 
she  had  not  wealth  to  make  a  great  display,  but  her 
home  was  one  of  pleasant  comfort,  and  enjoying  as  she 
did  the  society  of  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  men, 
and  of  the  best  informed  circle  in  the  great  capital, 
she  had  signal  opportunities  for  cultivation.  Charles 
King,  in  his  eulogy  on  John  Quincy  Adams,  speaks 
thus:  "It  was  while  Mr.  Adams  was  Minister  of  the 
United  States  in  London,  that  it  was  my  personal  good 
fortune  to  be  admitted  to  his  intimacy  and  friendship. 
Being  then  in  London  on  private  business,  and  having 
some  previous  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Adams,  I  fomd 
in  his  house  an  ever  kind  welcome,  and  in  his  inter- 
course and  conversation  unfailing;  attraction  and  im- 
provement.  Under  an  exterior  of,  at  times,  almost  re- 
pulsive coldness,  dwelt  a  heart  as  warm,  sympathies  as 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  263 

quick,  and  affections  as  overflowing,  as  ever  animated 
any  bosom.  His  tastes,  too,  were  all  refined.  Litera- 
ture and  art  were  familiar  and  dear  to  hiin,  and  hence 
it  was  that  his  society  was  at  once  so  agreeable  and  so 
improving.  At  his  hospitable  board,  I  have  listened 
to  disquisitions  from  his  lips  on  poetiy,  especially  the 
dramas  of  Shakespeare,  music,  painting,  sculpture — of 
rare  excellence  and  untiring  interest.  The  extent  of 
his  knowledge,  indeed,  and  its  accuracy,  in  all  branches, 
were  not  less  remarkable  than  the  complete  command 
which  he  appeared  to  possess  over  all  his  varied  stores* 
of  learning  and  information." 

Mr.  Monroe  succeeded  Mr.  Madison  in  the  Presi- 
dential chair  in  1817,  and  immediately  appointed  Mr. 
Adams  his  Secretary  of  State.  On  receivins;  notice  of 
his  appointment  to  this  responsible  office,  Mr.  Adams 
with  his  family  embarked  for  the  United  States,  on 
board  the  packet-ship  "  Washington  n  and  landed  in 
New  York  on  the  6th  of  August,  1817.  A  few  days 
after  his  arrival,  a  jmblic  dinner  was  given  him  in 
Tammany  Hall,  Xew  York.  The  room  was  elegantly 
decorated.  In  the  centre  was  a  handsome  circle  of 
oak  leaves,  roses,  and  flags — the  whole  representing, 
with  much  effect,  our  happy  union — and  from  the  cen- 
tre of  which,  as  from  her  native  woods,  appeared  our 
eagle,  bearing  in  her  beak  this  impressive  scroll : 

"  Columbia,  great  Republic,  tbou  art  blest, 
While  Empires  droop,  and  monarchs  sink  to  rest." 

Soon  afterward,  Mr.  Adams  and  family  went  tc 


264  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Boston  to  visit  his  father's  family,  where  he  was  the 
recipient  of  another  public  dinner :  the  last  meeting 
with  his  mother  on  earth,  it  was  one  which  he  never 
forgot.  It  was  gratifying  to  her  sensitive  nature  to  see 
him  thus  rising  from  one  elevated  position  to  another, 
and  it  soothed  her  aged  heart  beyond  any  power  of 
expression.  Many  years  of  his  life  had  been  spent  far 
away  from  her,  and  his  absences  were  long  and 
unbroken.  She  had  always  written  regularly  to  him, 
and  by  example  and  precept  endeavored  to  instil  into 
his  nature  some  portion  of  her  own  aspirations.  When 
his  talents  had  won  for  him  this  last  position,  she 
bowed  her  head  and  thanked  God.  Perhaps  her  spirit 
recognized  his  still  higher  promotion,  and  the  natural . 
conclusion,  arrived  at  from  former  precedents,  that  by 
gradual  ascent  he  would  reach  the  place  his  father  oc- 
cupied, occurred  to  her.  When  she  was  gathered  to 
the  graves  of  her  ancestors,  he  was  in  Washington, 
busy  with  the  manifold  duties  of  his  place,  whither  he 
had  gone  to  reside  permanently,  in  September,  1817. 

The  performance  of  the  duties  of  the  State  De- 
partment necessarily  required  a  residence  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Adams  thought 
proper  to  devote  himself  to  them,  devolved  upon  his 
lady  the  entire  task  of  making  his  house  an  agreeable 
resort  to  the  multitudes  of  visitors  who  crowd  to  the 
capital  on  errands  of  business,  or  curiosity,  or  pleasure, 
from  the  various  sections  of  the  United  States  during 
the  winter  season.  A  large  diplomatic  corps  from 
foreign  countries,  who  feel  themselves  in  more  imme- 
diate relations  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  a  dis- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  265 

tinguished  set  of  public  men,  not  then  divided  by 
party  lines  in  the  manner  which  usually  prevails,  ren 
dered  the  society  of  that  time,  and  Mrs.  Adams'  house 
where  it  most  often  concentrated,  among  the  most 
agreeable  recorded  in  our  annals. 

Much  as  it  has  been  ridiculed  since,  the  "  era  of  good 
feelings"  had  some  characteristics  peculiar  to  itself. 
For  an  instant,  sectional  animosities  relented,  the  tone 
of  personal  denunciation  and  angry  crimination,  too  gen- 
erally prevailing  in  extremes,  yielded ;  and  even  where 
the  jealous  rivalry  for  political  honors  still  predom- 
inated in  the  hearts  of  men,  the  easy  polish  of  general 
society  removed  from  casual  spectators  any  sense  of 
its  roughness,  or  inconvenience  from  its  impetuosity. 
Washington  may  have  presented  more  brilliant  spec- 
tacles since,  but  the  rancor  of  party  spirit  has  ever 
mingled  its  baleful  force  too  strongly  not  to  be  per- 
ceptible in  the  personal  relations  which  have  existed 
between  the  most  distinguished  of  our  political  men. 

The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Adams  to  her  fath- 
er-in-law will  be  read  with  interest.  She  corresponded 
regularly  during  her  life  in  Washington,  with  him,  un- 
til his  death,  in  1826.  At  no  distant  day  we  hope  to 
see  this  interesting  correspondence  published : — 

To  John  Adams. 

"  Washington,  16th  April,  1819. 

"  Yes !  my  dear  sir,  was  my  mind  sufficiently  strong 
or  capacious  to  understand,  or  even  to  comprehend  the 


266  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE. 

study  of  ancient  and  modern  philosophy,  I  am  certain 
I  should  derive  very  great  advantage  from  that  study  ; 
but  you  certainly  forgot  when  you  recommended  it. 
that  you  were  addressing  the  weaker  sex,  to  whom  sto- 
icism would  be  both  unamiable  and  unnatural,  and 
who  would  be  very  liable  in  avoiding  Scylla,  to  strike 
upon  Charybdis,  or  to  speak  without  metaphor,  to 
rush  into  skepticism.  Have  you  perceived  any  thing  like 
fatalism  in  my  letters  ?  I  am  unconscious  of  it,  though 
I  fear  there  may  sometimes  be  a  little  inclination  to- 
ward it.  The  woman  yoti  selected  for  your  wife,  was  so 
highly  gifted  in  mind,  with  powers  so  vast,  and  such 
quick  and  clear  perception,  altogether  so  superior  to 
the  general  run  of  females,  you  have  perhaps  formed  a 
too  enlarged  opinion  of  the  capacities  of  our  sex,  and 
having  never  witnessed  their  frailties,  are  not  aware  of 
the  dangers  to  which  they  are  exposed,  by  acquire- 
ments above  their  strength. 

"  The  systems  of  the  ancients  have  been  quite  out  of 
my  reach,  excepting  the  Dialogues  of  Plato,  which  Mr. 
A.  recommended  to  me  last  year,  and  which  I  read  at- 
tentively. I  cannot  say  that  I  am  entirely  unacquaint- 
ed with  their  different  theories,  but  that  acquaintance 
has  been  too  superficial  to  make  them  well  understood, 
and  I  have  been  too  much  inclined  to  view  them,  as 
difficult  of  practice,  and  not  tending  much  to  the  real 
benefit  of  mankind.  With  the  modern  philosophers 
I  have  become  more  intimate,  if  I  may  make  use  of 
such  a  word,  speaking  of  works  which  I  have  read, 
.  but  which  I  could  not  understand  or  digest.  Locke 
has  puzzled  me,  Berkley  amused  me,  Keid  astonished 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  267 

me,  Hume  disgusted  me,  and  Tucker  either  diverted 
me  or  set  me  to  sleep.  This  is  a  very  limited  sort  of 
reading,  and  you  will  laugh  at  my  catalogue  of  names, 
which  have  at  best,  I  believe,  but  little  title  to  the  rank 
of  philosophers,  or  at  least  must  come  in  at  the  fag  end. 
I  have  dipped  into  others  and  thrown  them  aside,  but 
I  have  never  seen  auy  thing  that  would  satisfy  my 
mind,  or  that  would  compare  with  the  chaste  and  ex- 
quisitely simple  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

"  I  fear  you  will  find  this  letter  more  extravagant 
than  any  you  have  ever  received  from  me,  but  I  have 
made  it  a  rule  to  follow  where  the  current  of  my  ideas 
carried  me,  and  to  give  them  to  you  in  a  perfect  un- 
dress. My  reading  has  been  too  general,  and  too  dif- 
fuse to  be  very  beneficial.  French  authors  have  occu- 
pied my  attention  the  largest  portion  of  my  life,  but 
their  venom  was  destroyed,  by  the  events  which  were 
continually  passing  almost  before  my  eyes,  and  which 
showed  how  wicked  was  the  practice  resulting  from 
such  theories.  You,  my  dear  sir,  have  ever  possessed 
a  nature  too  ardent,  too  full  of  benevolent  feelings  to 
all  your  race  with  a  mind  too  noble,  and  a  capacity 
too  enlarged,  to  sink  into  the  cold  and  thankless  state 
of  stoicism.  Your  heart  is  too  full  of  all  the  generous 
and  kindly  affections  for  you  ever  to  acquire  such  a 
cold  and  selfish  doctrine.  No,  my  dear  sir,  it  was,  it 
i3  impossible.  Look  at  your  past  life,  retrace  all  the 
eminent  services  you  have  rendered  to  your  country, 
and  to  mankind,  and  if  you,  by  unforeseen  and  uncon- 
trollable events,  have  been  prevented  from  doing  all 
you  wished,  all  you  desired,  toward  promoting  their 


268  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

felicity,  let  their  unequalled  prosperity  (in  producing 
which,  you  had  so  large  a  share)  soothe  your  latest 
hours,  and  cheer  your  heart  with  the  conviction,  that 
to  you,  in  a  great  measure,  they  owe  it ;  and  this  sen- 
timent alone  will  be  sufficient  reward.  I  set  out  in  life 
with  the  most  elevated  notions  of  honor  and  principle ; 
ere  I  had  entered  it  fairly,  my  hopes  were  blasted,  and 
my  ideas  of  mankind,  that  is,  all  the  favourable  ones 
almost,  were  suddenly  chilled,  and  I  was  very  near 
forming  the  horrid  and  erroneous  opinion,  that  no  such 
thing  as  virtue  existed.  This  was  a  dreadful  doctrine 
at  the  age  of  little  more  than  twenty,  but  it  taught  me 
to  reflect  and  not  to  'build  my  house  in  the  sand.' 
My  life  has  been  a  life  of  changes,  and  I  had  early  ac- 
customed myself  to  the  idea  of  retirement.  The  na- 
ture of  our  institutions,  the  various  turns  of  policy  to 
which  an  elective  government  is  ever  liable,  has  long 
occupied  my  thoughts,  and  I  trust  I  may  find  strength 
to  sustain  any  of  the  changes  which  may  be  in  store 
for  me,  with  fortitude,  dignity,  and  I  trust  cheerful- 
ness. To  these  changes,  I  can  never  attach  the  idea  of 
disgrace.  Popular  governments  are  peculiarly  liable 
to  factions,  to  cabals,  to  intrigue,  to  the  juggling  tricks 
of  party,  and  the  people  may  often  be  deceived  for  a 
time,  by  some  fair  speaking  demagogue,  but  they  will 
never  be  deceived  long ;  and  though  they  may,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  excitement,  sanction  an  injustice  toward  an 
old  and  faithful  servant,  they  appreciate  his  worth,  and 
hand  his  name  down  with  honor  to  posterity,  even 
though  that  'name  may  not  be  agreeable  to  the  fash- 
ionables.''     It  is  one  which  I  take  a  pride  in  bearing 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  269 

and  one  that  I  hope  and  pray  my  children  may  never 
dishonor. 

"  What  you  say  concerning  the  Floridas  is,  I  believe, 
universally  allowed,  and  as  to  the  effect  upon  the 
name,  why,  it  is  of  little  importance,  provided  the  sub- 
stance is  left,  and  the  act  undeniable.  There  is  the 
lance,  let  the  lance  speak — I  can  safely  swear  as  an  in- 
dividual* I  never  set  my  heart  on  what  the  world  calls 
a  great  reward.  I  am  too  well  assured  that  '  uneasy 
lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown,'  and  the  station  is 
too  full  of  thorns  to  render  it  very  desirable.  I  have 
no  relish  for  being  absolutely  crucified  for  the  sake  of 
a  short  preeminence.  You  have,  I  suppose,  seen  the 
correspondence  between  Gen.  Scott  and  old  Hickory  ? 
How  do  you  like  the  epistle  of  the  former  ?  What  do 
you  think  of  De  Witt  Clinton's  reply  to  the  charge  in- 
sinuated against  him  ?  We  hear  of  nothing  but  com- 
plaints of  the  times,  and  our  commercial  world  are  in 
great  distress.  In  Baltimore  (that  city  where  the 
South  American  Privateers  are  owned  and  fitted  out 
by  native  citizens  in  the  very  face  of  the  public,  and 
committing  depredations  on  the  property  of  their  fel- 
low-citizens) there  are  failures  every  day,  and  it  is  said 
the  mischief  will  extend  to  all  parts  of  the  Union.  In 
Virginia,  a  man  who  broke  out  of  the  jail  in  this  city, 
has  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  telling 
the  electors  that  he  would  take  only  six  dollars  a  day, 
as  he  thinks  eight  too  much ;  because  if  he  found  his 
pay  insufficient,  he  would  play,  and  by  this  means  in- 
sure himself  a  living.  That  he  had  often  played  with 
their  late  member,  and  with  many  of  the  most  distin- 


270  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

guished  members  of  Congress,  who  used  to  send  for 
him  to  play  with  them.    Such  things  are — 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  Sir.1' 
"  During  the  eight  years  in  which  Mrs.  Adams  pre- 
sided in  the  house  of  the  Secretary  of  State,"  writes  her 
son,  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  in  1839,  "  no  exclu- 
sions were  made,  in  her  invitations,  merely  on  account 
of  any  real  or  imagined  political  hostility ;  noi*  though 
keenly  alive  to  the  reputation  of  her  husband,  was  any 
disposition  manifested  to  do  more  than  to  amuse  and 
enliven  society.  In  this,  the  success  was  admitted  to 
be  complete,  as  all  will  remember  who  were  then  in 
the  habit  of  frequenting  her  dwelling.  But  in  propor- 
tion as  the  great  contest  for  the  Presidency,  in  which 
Mr.  Adams  was  involved,  approached,  the  violence  of 
partisan  warfare  began  to  manifest  its  usual  bad  effects, 
and  Mrs.  Adams  decided  to  adopt  habits  of  greater 
seclusion.  "When  at  last  the  result  had  placed  her  in 
the  President's  mansion,  her  health  be^an  to  fail  her 
so  much,  that  though  she  continued  to  preside  upon 
occasions  of  public  reception,  she  ceased  to  appear  at 
any  other  times,  and  she  began  to  seek  the  retirement 
which  ever  since  her  return  to  private  she  has  preferred. 
Mr.  Adams  has  been,  it  is  true,  and  still  continues,  a 
representative  in  Congress,  from  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  this  renders  necessary  an  annual  migration 
from  that  State  to  Washington  and  back  again,  as  well 
as  a  winter  residence  within  the  sound  of  the  gayeties 
of  that  place  ;  but  while  her  age  and  health  dispense 
her  from  the  necessities  of  attending  them,  severe  do- 
mestic afflictions  have  contributed  to  remove  the  dis- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  271 

position.  Tims  the  attractions  of  great  European 
capitals,  and  the  dissipation  consequent  upon  high  offi- 
cial station  at  home,  though  continued  through  that 
part  of  her  life  when  habits  become  most  fixed,  have 
done  nothing  to  change  the  natural  elegance  of  her 
manners,  nor  the  simplicity  of  her  tastes.  In  the  so- 
ciety of  a  few  Mends  and  near  relatives,  and  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  religious  affections  without  display, 
she  draws  all  the  consolation  that  can  in  this  world  be 
afforded  for  her  privations.  To  the  world  3Irs.  Adams 
presents  a  fine  example  of  the  possibility  of  retiring 
from  the  circles  of  fashion,  and  the  external  fascina- 
tions of  life,  in  time  still  to  retain  a  taste  for  the  more 
quiet  though  less  showy  attractions  of  the  domestic 
fireside.  A  strong  literary  taste  which  has  led  her  to 
read  much,  aud  a  capacity  for  composition  in  prose  and 
verse,  have  been  resources  for  her  leisure  moments ; 
not  with  a  view7  to  that  exhibition  which  renders  such 
acconTplishnients  too  often  fatal  to  the  more  delicate 
shades  of  feminine  character,  but  for  her  own  gratifica- 
tion and  that  of  a  few  relations  and  friends.  The  late 
President  Adams  used  to  draw  much  amusement,  in  his 
latest  years  at  Quincy,  from  the  accurate  delineation  of 
Washington  manners  and  character,  which  was  regu- 
larly transmitted,  for  a  considerable  period,  in  letters 
from  her  pen.  And  if  as  time  advances,  she  becomes 
gradually  less  able  to  devote  her  sense  of  sight  to  read- 
ing and  writing,  her  practice  of  the  more  homely  vir- 
tues of  manual  industry,  so  highly  commended  in  the 
final  chapter  of  the  book  of  Solomon,  still  amuses  the 
declining  days  of  her  varied  career.'' 


272  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

On  the  fourth  of  March,  1825,  John  Quincy  AcU 
ams  was  inaugurated  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  took  the  executive  chair,  which  had  been 
entered  twenty-eight  years  before  by  his  venerated 
father.  The  scene  at  the  inauguration  was  splendid 
and  imposing.  At  an  early  hour  of  the  day,  the  ave- 
nues leading  to  the  cajritol  presented  an  animated 
spectacle.  Crowds  of  citizens  on  foot,  in  carriages,  and 
on  horseback,  were  hastening  to  the  great  centre  of 
attraction.  Strains  of  martial  music  and  the  move- 
ments of  the  various  military  corps  heightened  the 
excitement, 

At  12  o'clock,  the  military  escort,  consisting  of 
general  and  staff  officers  and  several  volunteer  com- 
panies, received  the  President  elect  at  his  residence, 
together  with  President  Monroe  and  several  officers  of 
government.  The  procession,  led  by  the  cavalry,  and 
accompanied  by  an  immense  concourse  of  citizens, 
proceeded  to  the  capitol,  where  it  was  received  with 
military  honors  by  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps,  under  Col 
Henderson. 

Meanwhile  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives presented  a  brilliant  spectacle.  The  galleries 
and  the  lobbies  were  crowded  with  spectators.  The 
sofas  between  the  columns,  the  bar,  the  promenade  in 
the  rear  of  the  Speaker's  chair,  and  the  three  outer 
rows  of  the  members'  seats  were  occupied  by  a  splen- 
did array  of  beauty  and  fashion.  On  the  left,  the 
Diplomatic  Corps,  in  the  costume  of  their  respective 
courts,  occupied  the  place  assigned  them,  immediately 
before  the  steps  which  lead  to  the  chair.     The  officers 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  273 

of  the  army  and  navy  were  scattered  in  groups 
throughout  the  hall.  In  front*  of  the  clerk's  table 
chairs  were  placed  for  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  12  o'clock,  the  marshals, 
in  blue  scarfs,  made  their  appearance  in  the  hall,  at 
the  head  of  the  august  procession.  First  came  the 
officers  of  #both  Houses  of  Congress.  Then  appeared 
the  President  elect,  followed  by  the  venerable  ex- 
President  Monroe,  with  his  family.  To  these  succeed- 
ed the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  their  robes  of 
office,  the  members  of  the  Senate,  preceded  by  the 
Vice-President,  with  a  number  of  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Kepresentatives. 

Mr.  Adams,  in  a  plain  suit  of  black,  made  entirely 
of  American  manufactures,  ascended  to  the  speaker's 
chair  and  took  his  seat.  The  Chief  Justice  was  placed 
in  front  of  the  clerk's  table,  having  before  him  another 
table  on  the  floor  of  the  hall,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
which  sat  the  remaining  judges,  with  their  faces  to- 
ward the  chair.  The  doors  having  been  closed,  and 
silence  proclaimed,  Mr.  Adams  arose,  and  in  a  distinct 
and  iirm  tone  of  voice,  read  his  inaugural  address. 

The  congratulations  which  then  poured  in  from 
every  side,  occupied  the  hands,  and  could  not  but 
reach  the  heart,  of  President  Adams.  The  meeting 
between  him  and  his  venerated  predecessor  had  in  it 
something  peculiarly  affecting.  General  Jackson  was 
among  the  earliest  of  those  who  took  the  hand  of  the 
President ;  and  their  looks  and  deportment  toward 
each  other  were  a  rebuke  to  that  littleness  of  party 
18 


274  LADIES  OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

spirit  which  can  see  no  merit  in  a  rival,  and  feel  no  joy 
in  the  honor  of  a  competitor.  Shortly  after  1  o'clock, 
the  procession  commenced  leaving  the  hall.  The  Pres- 
ident was  escorted  back  as  he  came.  On  his  arrival  at 
his  residence,  he  received  the  compliments  and  respects 
of  a  great  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  called 
on  him  to  tender  their  congratulations.  The  proceed- 
ings of  the  day  were  closed  by  an  "  inaugural  ball "  in 
the  evening.  Among  the  guests  present  were  the 
President  and  Vice-President,  Ex-President  Monroe, 
a  number  of  foreign  ministers,  with  many  civil,  mili- 
tary, and  naval  officers."* 

Mrs.  Adams  gave  up  the  comforts  of  her  home, 
and  took  possession  of  the  White  House  soon  after  the 
inauguration.  The  spring  and  summer  wore  quietly 
away,  for  even  in  the  "White  House,  sociability  is  con- 
fined to  the  winter  season,  and  save  the  visits  of  friends, 
nothing  occurred  to  vary  the  monotony  of  every- day 
life.  Her  children  were  a  consolation  to  her  in  her  in- 
firm condition,  for  her  health  failed  her  soon  as  she 
moved  in  the  President's  house.  In  the  following  Sep- 
tember, she  accompanied  her  husband  on  a  visit  to  his 
aged  father  at  Quincy,  but  being  taken  very  ill  at  Phila- 
delphia, the  President  was  compelled  to  proceed  with- 
out her.     He  did  not  remain  lon^,  and  on  the  14th  of 

07 

October  set  out  again  for  Washington.  It  was  the  last 
time  Mr.  Adams  ever  saw  his  father  !  "  The  aged  pa- 
triarch had  lived  to  see  his  country  emancipated  from 
foreign  thraldom,  its  independence  acknowledged,  its 
union  consummated,  its  prosperity  and  perpetuity  rest- 

*  National  Intelligencer,  182". 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  275 

ing  on  an  immovable  foundation,  and  his  son  elevated 
to  the  highest  office  in  its  gift.  It  was  enough!  His 
work  accomplished — the  book  of  his  eventful  life  writ 
ten  and  sealed  for  immortality — he  was  ready  to  de- 
part and  be  at  peace.  The  4th  of  July,  1826,  wilj 
Ions;  be  memorable  for  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
coincidences  that  have  ever  taken  place  in  the  history 
of  nations.  It  was  the  fiftieth  anniversary,  the  jubi- 
lee of  American  Independence !  Preparations  had 
been  made  throughout  the  Union  to  celebrate  the  dav 
with  unusual  pomp  aud  display.  John  Adams  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  had  both  been  invited  to  participate 
in  the  festivities  of  the  occasion,  at  their  several  places 
of  abode.  But  a  higher  summons  awaited  them :  they 
were  bidden  to  a  'jubilee1  above,  which  shall  have  no 
end  !  On  that  half-century  Anniversary  of  American 
Independence,  at  nearly  the  same  hour  of  the  day,  the 
spirits  of  Adams  and  Jefferson  took  their  departure 
from  earth !  Amid  the  rejoicings  of  the  people,  the  peals 
of  artillery,  the  strains  of  music,  the  exultations  of  a 
great  nation  in  the  enjoyment  of  freedom,  peace,  and 
happiness,  they  were  released  from  the  toils  of  life,  and 
allowed  to  enter  on  their  rest." 

These  two  patriarchs  had  been  corresponding  regu- 
larly, and  their  letters  had  attracted  the  attention  of 
Europe  as  well  as  America.  Mr.  Adams  had  written 
the  last  letter  in  which  occurs  the  following  expression: 
"  Half  an  hour  ago,  I  received,  and  this  moment  have 
heard  read,  for  the  third  or  fourth  time,  the  best  letter 
that  was  ever  written  by  an  octogenarian,  dated  June 
1st" 


276  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

The  editor  of  the  London  Morning  Chronicle  pre. 
faces  his  notice  of  this  correspondence  with  the  follow 
ing  remarks : — 

"  What  a  contrast  the  following  correspondence  of 
the  two  rival  Presidents  of  the  greatest  republic  of 
the  world,  reflecting  an  old  age  dedicated  to  virtue, 
temperance,  and  philosophy,  presents  to  the  heart-sick- 
ening details  occasionally  disclosed  to  us,  of  the  miser- 
able beings  who  fill  the  thrones  of  the  continent. 
There  is  not,  perhaps,  one  sovereign  of  the  continent, 
who  in  any  sense  of  the  word  can  be  said  to  honor  our 
nature,  while  many  make  us  almost  ashamed  of  it.  The 
curtain  is  seldom  drawn  aside  without  exhibiting  to  us 
beings  worn  out  with  vicious  indulgence,  diseased  in 
mind,  if  not  in  body,  the  creatures  of  caprice  and  in- 
sensibility. On  the  other  hand,  since  the  foundation  of 
the  American  Republic,  the  chair  has  never  been  filled 
by  a  man,  for  -whose  life  (to  say  the  least),  any  Ameri- 
can need  once  to  blush.  It  must,  therefore,  be  some 
compensation  to  the  Americans  for  the  absence  of  pure 
monarchy,  that  when  they  look  upward,  their  eyes  are 
not  always  met  by  vice,  and  meanness,  and  often 
idiocy.1' 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  was  remarkable 
for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  and  there 
was  therefore  no  event  in  Mrs.  Adams  life  of  a  stirring 
nature,  "  No  crisis  occurred  in  national  affairs,  no  im- 
minent peril  from  without,  or  danger  within,  threat- 
ened the  well-being  of  the  country !  Quietness  reigned 
throughout  the  world,  and  the  nations  were  allowed 
once  more  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  to  enlarge  the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE.  277 

operations  of  commerce,  and  to  fix  their  attention  on 
domestic  interests,  the  only  true  fountain  of  national 
prosperity.  During  no  Presidential  term  since  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Government,  has  more  been  done  to 
consolidate  the  Union,  and  develop  its  resources,  and 
lay  the  foundations  of  national  strength  and  prosperity/'' 

Mr.  Adams  was  certainly  the  most  learned  man 
who  has  yet  occupied  the  Presidential  chair.  Xo  one 
at  all  acquainted  with  his  life,  will  deny  this  assertion. 
Profoundly  verled  in  the  lore  of  the  ancients,  he  was 
yet  more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
modern  governments,  and  was  a  deep  thinker,  as  well 
as  an  eloquent  speaker.  A  southern  clergyman  visited 
him  during  his  administration  and  was  astonished  to 
find  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with  all  sects  and 
creeds,  and  had  read  every  book  he  could  mention. 
Finally  he  remembered  one  work  of  importance,  and 
asked  if  he  had  read  it.  Mr.  Adams  had  not.  where- 
upon the  minister,  delighted  with  his  success,  told  it 
everywhere  and  was  afterward  known  as  the  man  who 
had  read  one  more  book  than  John  Quincy  Adams. 

Mrs.  Adams  retired  from  the  "White  House  with 
heartfelt  pleasure,  and  sought  the  quiet  her  delicate 
health  demanded. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  an  interview 
with  ex-President  Adams,  by  a  southern  gentleman,  in 
1834,  affords  some  conception  of  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Adams  at  Quincy. 

u  Yesterday,  accompanied  by  my  friend  T.,  I  paid 
a  visit  to  the  venerable  ex-President,  at  his  residence 
in  Quincy.     A  violent  rain  setting  in  as  soon  as  we  ar- 


278  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

rived,  gave  us  from  five  to  nine  o'clock  to  listen  to  the 
learning  of  this  man  of  books.  His  residence  is  a 
plain,  very  plain  one ;  the  room  into  which  we  were 
ushered  (the  drawing-room,  I  suppose),  was  frirnished 
in  true  republican  style.  It  is  probably  of  ancient 
construction,  as  I  perceived  two  beams  projecting  from 
the  low  ceiling,  in  the  manner  of  the  beams  in  a  ship's 
cabin.  Prints  commemorative  of  political  events,  and 
the  old  family  portraits  hung  about  the  room ;  com- 
mon straw  matting  covered  the  floor,  arid  two  candle- 
sticks, bearing  sperm  candles,  ornamented  the  mantle- 
piece.  The  personal  appearance  of  the  ex-President 
himself,  corresponds  with  the  simplicity  of  his  furni- 
ture.  He  resembles  rather  a  substantial,  well-fed 
farmer,  than  one  who  has  wielded  the  destinies  of  this 
mighty  confederation,  and  been  bred  in  the  ceremony 
and  etiquette  of  a  European  court.  In  fact,  he  ap- 
pears to  possess  none  of  that  sternness  of  character 
which  you  would  suppose  to  belong  to  one  a  large  part 
of  whose  life  has  been  spent  in  political  warfare,  or.  at 
any  rate,  amidst  scenes  requiring  a  vast  deal  of  nerve 
and  inflexibility.  Mrs.  Adams  is  described  in  a  word 
— a  lady.  She  has  all  the  warmth  of  heart  and  ease 
of  manner  that  mark  the  character  of  the  southern 
ladies,  and  from  which  it  would  be  no  easy  matter  to 
distinguish  her. 

The  ex-President  was  the  chief  talker.  He 
spoke  with  infinite  ease,  drawing  upon  his  vast  re- 
sources with  the  certainty  of  one  who  has  his  lecture 
before  him  ready  written.  The  whole  of  his  con- 
versation, which     steadily  he   maintained   for  nearly 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  279 

four  hours,  was  a  continued  stream  of  light.  Well 
contented  was  I  to  be  a  listener.  His  subjects  were 
the  architecture  of  the  middle  ages ;  the  stained  glass 
of  that  period ;  sculpture,  embracing  monuments  par- 
ticularly. On  this  subject,  his  opinion  of  Mrs.  Night- 
ingale's monument  in  Wesminster  Abbey  differs  from 
all  others  that  I  have  seen  or  heard.  He  places  it 
above  every  other  in  the  Abbey,  and  observed  in  re- 
lation to  it,  that  the  spectator  "saw  nothing  else/1 
Milton,  Shakspeare,  Shenstone,  Pope,  Byron,  and 
Southey  were  in  turn  remarked  npon.  He  gave  Pope 
a  wonderfully  high  character,  and  remarked  that  one 
of  his  chief  beauties  was  the  skill  exhibited  in  ranging 
the  cesural  pause,  quoting  from  various  parts  of  his 
author  to  illustrate  his  remarks  more  fully.  He  said 
very  little  on  the  politics  of  the  country.  He  spoke 
at  considerable  length  of  Sheridan  and  Burke,  both 
of  whom  he  had  heard,  and  could  describe  with  the 
most  graphic  effect.  He  also  spoke  of  Junius ;  and  it 
is  remarkable  that  he  should  place  him  so  far  above 
the  best  of  his  cotemporaries.  He  spoke  of  him  as  a 
bad  man ;  but  maintained,  as  a  writer,  that  he  had 
never  been  equalled.  The  conversation  never  flagged 
for  a  moment ;  and  on  the  whole  I  shall  remember  my 
visit  to  Quincy  as  amongst  the  most  instructive  and 
pleasant  I  ever  passed." 

Mrs.  Adams  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  her  home  but 
one  year,  when  Mr.  Adams  was  elected  a  Member  of 
Congress,  and  from  that  time  forward  to  the  hour  of 
his  death  he  represented  the  Plymouth  district  with 
"unswerving  fidelity  and  distinguished  honor."     Mr 


2S0  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Adams  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  December,  1S31,  and  from  that  time  forward  hia 
family  resided  in  Washington,  in  a  house  owned  by 
them  situated  on  I  street.  For  fifteen  years  he  was  a 
Member  of  Congress,  residing  continually  at  Washing- 
ton, although  making  frequent  visits  to  his  old  home. 

More  than  four-score  years  had  left  their  im- 
press upon  Mr.  Adams'  brow,  and  he  was  still  in  the 
midst  of  his  usefulness.  In  November,  184G,  he  had 
a  stroke  of  paralysis,  from  whicli  he  never  recovered. 
On  the  morning  of  that  day,  while  sojourning  at  the 
residence  of  his  son,  in  Boston,  preparing  to  depart  for 
Washington,  lie  was  walking  out  with  a  friend  to  visit 
a  new  medical  college,  and  was  attacked  by  the  way. 
After  several  weeks,  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  return 
to  his  duties  at  the  capital,  but  never  afterward  en- 
tirely recovered.  On  Monday,  the  21st  of  February, 
1848,  at  half-past  one  o'clock,  whilst  in  his  seat  in  the 
House,  he  was  struck  a  second  time  with  the  same  dis- 
ease. He  was  removed  to  the  Speaker's  apartment, 
borne  on  a  sofa  by  several  members,  and  plasters  ap- 
plied, which  seemed  to  relieve  him.  Mrs.  Adams  was 
sent  for,  and  on  his  recovering  consciousness,  was  glad- 
dened by  her  presence  in  answer  to  his  inquiry  for  her. 
She  was  in  extreme  illness  and  suffering  acute  sorrow,  but 
remained  beside  him,  sustained  by  her  niece  and  nephew. 
Mr.  Adams  lay  in  the  Speaker's  room  in  a  state  of  ap- 
parent unconsciousness  through  the  22d  and  23d, — Con- 
gress, in  the  mean  time,  assembling  in  respectful  silence, 
and  immediately  adjourning  from  day  to  day.  At 
seven   o'clock   on  the   evening  of  the    23d  he   died. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  281 

President  Polk  issued  a  Proclamation  announcing  his 
death,  and  orders  were  issued  from  all  the  Depart 
ments  directing  that  suitable  honors  should  be  paid 
the  illustrious  dead.  The  funeral  took  place  in  the 
capitol,  at  twelve  o'clock,  Saturday,  26th  of  February, 
after  which  the  body  was  conveyed  to  the  Congres- 
sional burying-ground  to  remain  until  the  completion 
of  the  preparations  for  their  removal  to  Quiucy. 

The  following  letter  of  thanks  from  Mrs.  Adams, 
addressed  to  the  Speaker,  was  laid  before  the  House  of 
Representatives : — 

"Washihgtoh,  Feb.  29th,  1S4S. 

.-  gm : — The  resolutions  in  honor  of  my  dear  deceased 
husband,  passed  by  the  illustrious  assembly  over  which 
you  preside,  and  of  which  he  at  the  moment  of  his 
death  was  a  member,  have  been  duly  communicated 

to  me. 

"  Penetrated  with  grief  at  this  distressing  event  of 
my  life,  mourning  the  loss  of  one  who  has  been  at  once 
my  example  and  my  support  through,  the  trials  of  half 
a  century,  permit  me  nevertheless  to  express  through 
you  my 'deepest  gratitude  for  the  signal  manner  in 
which  the  public  regard  has  been  voluntarily  manifest- 
ed by  your  honorable  body,  and  the  consolation  de- 
rived* to  me  and  mine  from  the  reflection  that  the  un- 
weared  efforts  of  an  old  public  servant  have  not  even 
in  this  world  proved  without  their  reward  in  the  gen- 
erous appreciation  of  them  by  his  country. 

"  With  great  respect,  I  remain,  Sir,  your  obedient 

servant, 

"  Louisa  Cathatuxe  Adams. 


282  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

On  the  following  week,  the  remains  of  the  deceased 
ex-President  were  conveyed  to  Quincy,  accompained 
by  a  committee  of  one  from  each  State  and  Territory 
in  the  Union. 

After  this  sad  event  in  Mrs.  Adams  life,  she  lived 
uninterruptedly  at  her  home  in  Quincy,  enjoying  the  so- 
ciety of  her  children  and  relations.  From  a  distin- 
guished member  of  her  family,  I  have  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  which  although  marked  private,  I  take 
the  liberty  of  extracting  a  few  items  of  particular  in- 
terest. 

u  I  should  be  very  glad  to  be  of  service  to  you  if  I 
were  possessed  of  the  material  which  you  seem  to  de- 
sire in  connection  with  the  life  of  my  mother.  But  I 
fear  they  are  not  to  be  found  among  the  papers  left  by 
her.  She  wrote  much  and  read  a  great  deal,  both  of 
French  and  English  literature,  and  translated  from  the 
former  for  the  amusement  of  her  friends.  She  also 
wrote  verses  frequently  in  the  same  way.  But  all 
these  accomplishments  of  hers,  including  a  nice  taste  in 
music  and"  a  well  cultivated  voice,  are  matters  of  little 
moment  in  a  publication,  however  much  they  may  con- 
tribute to  the  refinement  of  the  social  circle  at  home. 
Although  she  lived  to  quite  an  advanced  age,  her 
health  was  always  delicate  and  variable,  so  as  to  inter- 
rupt the  even  tenor  of  her  life  and  disincline  her  to  the 
efforts  required  for  general  society,  especially  duiing 
her  twelve  years  spent  at  different  courts  in  Europe. 
This  also  was  very  much  the  case  during  her  residence 
in  the  President's  House,  which  I  have  always  consider- 
ed as  the  period  she  enjoyed  the  least  during  the  pub- 


LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  283 

lie  career  of  my  father.  All  this  appears  more  or  less 
in  her  letters,  and  especially  in  a  species  of  irregular 
diary  which  she  kept  for  some  time  at  Washington  for 
the  benefit  of  my  grandfather,  John  Adams,  then  liv 
ing  at  Quincy,  and  her  brother  who  was  residing  at 
New  Orleans." 

.  Mrs.  Adams  died  the  14th  of  May  1852,  and  was 
buried  by  the  side  of  her  husband,  in  the  family  bury- 
ing  grounds  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts. 


284  LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 


MRS.  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

Not  as  a  Lady  of  the  White  House  is  Mrs.  Jackson's 
life  sketched  in  this  volume,  for  the  cruel  misrepresen- 
tations of  her  husband's  political  opponents  had  crush- 
ed her  heart,  and  ended  her  days  before  he  took  posses- 
sion of  the  home  of  the  Presidents.  She  was  denied 
the  gratification  of  accompanying  him  to  Washington, 
and  of  gracing  the  White  House,  but  she  was  even  in 
death  the  President's  wife,  and  as  such  is  ranked.  In 
his  heart  she  lived  there,  the  object  of  the  most  death- 
less and  exalted  affection,  the  spiritual  comforter  and 
companion  of  his  lonely  hours.  The  friends  and  visit- 
ors of  the  new  President  saw  her  not,  nor  was  she 
mentioned  by  the  throng ;  but  to  him  she  was  ever 
present  in  the  form  of  memory  and  eternal,  undying 
love. 

The  day  of  party  strife  and  bitterness  toward  Gen- 
eral Jackson  has  passed  away  forever,  and  the  nobility 
and  refined  sensibility  of  his  nature  are  at  last  appreci- 
ated. The  slanders  and  falsehoods  which  embittered  his 
earthly  life,  have  been  eclipsed  by  the  sunlight  of  truth, 
and  over  the  lapse  of  years  comes  ringing  the  prophetic 
assertion  of  the  immutability  of  right.  He  is  avenged. 
Once  it  was  the  fashion  to  revile  him,  and  multitudes 
in  this  country  who  had  no  independent  judgments  of 
their  own,  took  up  the  gossip  of  the  daj'-  and  pursued 
their  congenial  calling,  even  after  death  had  taken  him 
froin  their  sight  forever. 


\         * 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  285 

Down  from  the  canvas  beams  his  speaking  eye 
upon  us,  and  its  meaning  seems  to  say,  justice  to  her  is 
honor  to  me.  With  feelings  an  American  only  can 
appreciate,  the  task  is  undertaken,  and  whatever  its 
defects  may  be,  its  merit  is  its  truthfulness. 

In  1779,  CoL  John  Doneldson,  a  brave  and  wealthy 
old  Virginia  surveyor,  started  to  the  banks  of  the  Cum- 
berland with  a  party  of  emigrants.  He  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  Captain  James  Robertson  and  his  companions, 
nine  sturdy  pioneers,  who  had  engaged  to  build  huts, 
plant  corn,  and  make  as  comfortable  a  home  as  possible 
for  the  band  that  was  to  follow.  This  consisted  of 
families,  and  among  them  the  families  of  several  of 
those  adventurous  pioneer?. 

The  country  was  full  of  Indians,  the  forests  deep, 
wild,  and  unexplored,  and  the  perils  very  great.  In 
order  to  escape  the  toil  and  danger  of  travelling  through 
the  wilderness,  Colonel  Donelson  accomplished  the 
journey  by  water.  It  was  a  distance  of  more  than 
two  thousand  miles,  and  never  before  had  any  man 
been  bold  enough  to  project  such  a  voyage.  They 
sailed  down  the  Holston  river  to  the  Tennessee,  down 
the  Tennessee  to  its  junction  with  the  Ohio,  up  the 
Ohio  till  they  reached  the  Cumberland,  and  up  this 
stream  to  the  French  Salt  Springs,  on  the  spot  where 
now  stands  the  city  of  Nashville.  Colonel  Donelson 
kept  an  account  of  this  remarkable  and  perilous  voy- 
age, entitled,  "  Journal  of  a  voyage,  intended  by  God's 
permission,  in  the  good  boat  Adventure,  from  Fort 
Patrick  Henry  on  Holston  river,  to  the  French  Salt 
Springs  on  Cumberland  river,   kept  by  John  Donel- 


2S6  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

son,"  and  the  thrilling  incidents  and  remarkable  per* 
sonal  adventures  are  deeply  interesting. 

They  were  four  months  on  the  journey,  the  suffer- 
ings and  privations  of  which  can  scarcely  be  apprecia- 
ted by  the  more  fortunate  who  now  travel  the  same 
way  amid  quiet  woods,  green  fields,  and  peaceful  coun- 
try homes.  To  those  adventurers,  the  dangerous  points 
of  the  rivers  were  unknown,  and  many  were  the  acci- 
dents that  befell  them.  They  started  in  the  depths  of 
winter  and  were  obliged  to  encounter  excessive 
cold  and  frosts.  But  worse  than  all,  the  Indians  were 
ever  on  the  watch  to  entrap  them.  The  journal  says, 
"  we  still  perceived  them,  marching  down  the  river  in 
considerable  bodies,  keeping  pace  with  us."  The  wild- 
est, most  romantic,  and  lonely  sj)ot  on  this  continent  is 
the  "  Whirl,"  in  the  Tennessee  river,  where  the  river  is 
compressed  within  less  than  half  its  usual  width  by 
the  Cumberland  mountain  which  juts  in  on  both  sides. 
Its  beauty  is  only  equalled  by  its  danger.  In  passing 
through  this  place,  a  large  canoe  containing  all  the 
property  of  one  of  the  emigrants,  was  overturned  and 
the  little  cargo  was  lost.  The  family  had  gone  into  a 
larger  boat  for  safety.  "  The  company,"  says  Col. 
Donelson,  "pitying  their  distress,  concluded  to  halt  and 
assist  in  recovering  the  property.  We  had  landed  on 
the  northern  shore,  at  a  level  spot,  and  were  going  up 
to  the  place,  when  the  Indians,  to  our  astonishment, 
appeared  immediately  over  us  on  the  opposite  cliffs, 
and  commenced  firing  down  upon  us,  which  occasioned 
a  precipitate  retreat  to  the  boats.  We  immediately 
moved  off." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  287 

One  of  this  intrepid  little  band  of  emigrants,  shar- 
ing in  its  hardships  and  dangers,  was  Rachel  Donel- 
son,  the  daughter  of  Col.  John  Donelson.  She  was 
then  a  bright-eyed,  black-haired,  sprightly,  pretty 
child  of  about  twelve  years.  On  the  24th  of  April, 
1780,  they  reached  the  little  settlement  of  log-cabins 
that  Captain  Robertson  and  his  band  had  made  ready 
for  them.  But  perils  and  privations  were  not  past. 
The  Indians  were  wily  and  untiring  in  laying  their 
crafty  ambushes,  and  many  were  the  victims  that  fell 
within  their  deadly  grasp,  and  were  despatched  by 
their  murderous  weapons.  With  all  these  troubles, 
however,  the  settlement  grew  in  numbers  and  in 
strength  ;  such  was  the  intrepidity  and  the  jDerserving 
energy  which  inspired  these  heroic  men  and  women. 
As  Colonel  Donelson  was  one  of  the  most  influential, 
he  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  of  the  settlers.  He 
had  owned  extensive  iron  works  in  Pittsylvania  Coun- 
ty, Virginia,  which  he  had  sold  when  he  started  to  the 
West.  Prior  and  subsequent  to  the  revolution,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgess,  and  had  re- 
peatedly represented  the  counties  of  Campbell  and  Pitt- 
sylvania. Thomas  Jefferson  and  Patrick  Henry  were 
his  personal  friends ;  he  held  commissions  under  each 
of  them  to  execute  important  trusts,  such  as  the  sur- 
vey of  state  lines,  the  negotiating  of  treaties  with  In- 
dians, or  establishing  the  authority  of  the  State  over 
distant  territory.  His  confidence  in  General  Washing- 
ton was  implicit,  and  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
spoke  his  sentiments  had  a  most  happy  and  conserva- 
tive influence  over  the  people  of  the  West.     The  little 


CSS  labiss  or  the  white  house. 

iffer  from  the  insufficient  supply 
of  corn  and  of  powder  and  lead,  and  amily  of 

Colonel  Donelson  numbered  many  children  and  ser- 
vants, he  concluded  to  remove  with  them  t  Kentucky. 
He  had  in  tha:  land  claims  which  he 

could  more  easily  attend  fcc  and  secure  1  y  being  there. 
During  his  i  there,  his    daughter  P^achel  was 

married  to  Lewis  Rol  .  .  a  man  of  good  family.  She 
had  grown  up  amid  the  trials  and  dangers  of  a  frontier 
life,  but  the  examples  that  she  laily  saw  ::  noble  for- 
titude, of  cal  ry,  d  I  of  heroic  labor  were  worth 
eid  weakr  lesson  of  more  civilized  life. 
She  grew  up  accomplished  in  the  higher  art  of  making 
home  attractive  and  relatives  happy.  She  was  at  the 
same  time  lively  and  gentle,  gifted  with  patience  and 
prudence,  and  winning  in  hex  simple  and  unafT; 
cuv-iiei's. 

Soon  afte:  u  laughter's  marriage  C  lonel  Donel- 
son returned  to  Tern  h  his  family.  In  the  fall 
o:  1785.  while  surveying  hi  the  woods  far  from  home, 
this  brav  and  gallant  gentJeman  was  pierced  by  bul- 
lets from   an  unseen  foe,  and   died  the   same   night. 

g  -  John  Overton,  then  a  young  lawyer,  in  the  fall 
of  17.7.  went  to  Mercer  County,  Kentucky,  and  be- 
came a  boar  i  ike  family  of  Mrs.  Robards,  where 
Lewis  Eobards  and  his  wife  were  living.  Judge 
Overton  was  not  long  in  t  they  lived  very 
unhappily,  because  Captain  Robards  was  jealous  of 
a  gentleman  named  Short.  His  disposition  was  ex- 
tremely unfortunate,  and  kept  the  whole  family  in 
uneasiness   and    listless.     This    unpleasant    state  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  2S(J 

affairs  continued  to  increase  until  Captain  Robards 
wrote  to  his  mother-in-law,  the  widowed  Mrs.  Donel- 
son,  requesting  that  she  would  take  her  daughter 
home,  as  he  did  not  intend  to  live  with  her  any  longer. 
Sometime  in  the.  latter  part  of  1788,  Samuel  Donelson 
came  and  started  away  with  his  sister.  Judge  Overton 
Bays,  •'  my  clear  and  distinct  recollection  is,  that  it  was 
said  to  be  a  final  separation,  at  the  instance  of  Captain 
Robards ;  for  I  well  recollect  the  distress  of  old  Mm 
Robards  on  account  of  her  daughter-in-law,  Rachel, 
o-oino-  away,  and  on  account  of  the  separation  that  was 
about  to  take  place,  together  with  the  circumstance  of 
the  old  lady's  embracing  her  affectionately.  The  ol<* 
lady  always  blamed  her  son  Lewis,  and  took  the  part 
of  her  daughter-in-law." 

Judsre  Overton  farther  remarks,  that  he  never 
heard  any  of  the  family  censure  young  Mrs.  Robards 
on  account  of  the  unhappy  difference  between  her  hus- 
band and  herself;  but  that  he  frequently  heard  them 
express  the  most  favorable  sentiments  regarding  her. 

As  stated  in  his  narrative,  published  in  1827,  Judge 
Overton  deciding  to  fix  his  residence  in  Tennessee,  left 
old  Mrs.  Robards,  with  the  promise  that  he  would  use 
his  best  endeavors  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
her  son  Lewis  and  his  wife,  particularly  as  her  son 
seemed  unhappy,  and  regretful  of  what  had  occurred. 
The  Judge  took  occasion  to  speak  with  him  upon  the 
subject,  and  he  said  he  was  convinced  that  his  suspi- 
cions were  unfounded,  and  that  he  wished  to  live  with 
his  wife.  Upon  arriving  at  his  destination  in  Tennessee, 
by  a  remarkable  and  romantic  coincidence,  the  judge 
19 


290  LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

again  became  a  boarder  in  the  same  house  with  Mrs. 
Lewis  Robards.  Mrs.  Donelson,  her  mother,  was  not 
only  willing  to  accommodate  him  but  was  glad  to  add 
to  the  number  of  her  protectors  against  the  Indians. 
Another  lawyer,  Andrew  Jackson,  became  a  boarder 
with  Mi's.  Donelson  at  the  same  time,  being  introduced 
by  Judge  Overton.  "  Soon  after  my  arrival,11  contin- 
ues the  judge  in  his  narrative,  UI  had  frequent  con- 
versations with  Mrs.  Lewis  Robards,  on  the  subject  of 
living  happily  with  her  husband.  She,  with  much 
sensibility,  assured  me  that  no  effort  to  do  so  should 
be  wanting  on  her  part ;  and  I  communicated  the  re- 
sult to  Captain  Robards  and  his  mother,  from  both  of 
whom  I  received  congratulations  and  thanks. 

o 

"  Captain  Robards  had  previously  purchased  a  pre- 
emption in  this  country  on  the  south  side  of  the  Cum- 
berland liver,  in  Davidson  County,  about  live  miles 
from  where  Mrs.  Donelson  then  lived.  In  the  arrange- 
ment for  a  reunion  between  Captain  Robards  and  his 
wife,  I  understood  it  was  agreed  that  Captain  Robards 
was  to  live  in  this  country  instead  of  Kentucky ;  and 
that  until  it  was  safe  to  go  to  his  own  land,  he  and  his 
wife  were  to  live  at  Mrs.  Donelson's.1'  They  became 
reunited  in  the  year  1789. 

"  Not  many  months  elapsed  before  Robards  became 
jealous  of  Jackson,  which,  I  felt  confident,  was  with- 
out the  least  ground.  Some  of  his  irritating  conver- 
sations on  this  subject  with  his  wife,  I  heard  amidst 
the  tears  of  herself  and  her  mother,  who  were  greatly 
distressed.  I  urged  to  Robards  the  unmanliness  of  his 
conduct,  after  the  pains  I  had  taken  to  produce  har- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  291 

niony  as  a  mutual  friend  of  both  families,  and  my 
honest  conviction  that  his  suspicions  were  groundless. 
These  remonstrances  seemed  not  to  have  the  desired 
effect.  As  much  commotion  and  unhappiness  pre- 
vailed in  the  family  as  in  that  of  Mrs.  Kobards,  in 
Kentuckv.  At  length  I  communicated  to  Jaekson  the 
unpleasant  situation  of  living  in  a  family  where  there 
was  so  much  disturbance,  and  concluded  by  telling 
him  that  we  would  endeavor  to  get  some  other  place. 
To  this  he  readily  assented. 

"  Being  conscious  of  his  innocence,  Jackson  said  he 
would  talk  to  Kobards.  What  passed  between  them, 
I  do  not  know.  Mrs.  Donelson  related  that  Kobards 
became  violently  aDgry  and  abusive,  and  said  that  he 
was  determined  not  to  live  with  Mrs.  Kobards.  Jack- 
son retired  from  the  family  and  went  to  live  at  Mans- 
kers  Station.  Captain  Kobards  remained  several 
months  with  his  wife,  and  then  went  to  Kentucky. 
Soon  after  this  affair,  Mrs.  Kobards  went  to  live  at 
Colonel  Hays',  who  married  her  sister. 

"  Some  time  in  the  fall  of  1790,  there  was  a  report 
afloat  that  Captain  Kobards  intended  to  come  down 
and  take  his  wife  to  Kentucky.  This  created  great 
uneasiness  both  with  Mrs.  Donelson  and  her  daughter, 
the  latter  of  whom  was  much  distressed,  hein^r  con- 
vinced  after  two  fair  trials,  as  she  said,  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  live  with  Captain  Kobards ;  and  of 
this  opinion  was  I,  with  all  those  I  conversed  with,  who 
were  acquainted  with  the  circumstances.  During  the 
winter  of  1791,  Mrs.  Donelson  told  me  of  her  daugh- 
ter's intention  to  go  down  the  river  to   Xatchez,  to 


292  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

some  of  their  friends,  in  order  to  keep  out  of  the  way 
of  Captain  Eobards,  as  she  said  he  had  threatened  to 
haunt  her.  Knowing,  as  I  did,  Captain  Eobards'  un- 
happv  disposition,  and  his  temper  growing  out  of  it,  I 
thought  she  was  right  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  though 
I  do  not  believe  that  I  so  expressed  myself  to  the  old 
lady  or  to  any  other  person. 

••  The  whole  affair  gave  Jackson  great  uneasi 
In  his  singularly  delicate  sense  of  honor,  and  in  what 
I  thought  his  chivalrous  conceptions  of  the  female  sex. 
it  occurred  to  me  that  he  was  distinguishable  from 
every  other  person  with  whom  I  was  acquainted. 
About  the  time  of  Mrs.  Donelson's  communication  to 
me  respecting  her  daughters  intention  of  going  to 
Natchez,  I  perceived  in  Jackson  symptoms  of  more 
than  usual  concern.  Wishing  to  ascertain  the  cause. 
he  frankly  told  me  that  he  was  the  most  unhappy  of 
men,  in  having  innocently  and  unintentionally  been  the 
cause  of  the  loss  of  peace  and  happiness  of  Mrs. 
Eobards,  whom  he  believed  to  be  a  fine  woman.  It 
was  not  long  after  this  before  he  communicated  to  me 
his  intention  of  going  to  Natchez  with  Colonel  Stark. 

CD  CD  i 

with  whom  Mrs.  Eobards  was  to  descend  the  river, 
saying  that  she  had  no  friend  or  relation  that  would 
go  with  her,  or  assist  in  preventing  Stark  and  his 
family  and  Mrs.  Eobards  from  being  massacred  by  the 
Indians,  then  in  a  state  of  war  and  exceedinglv  trouble- 
some.  Accordingly,  Jackson,  in  company  with  Mrs. 
Eobards  and  Colonel  Stark,  a  venerable  and  highly 
esteemed  old  man,  and  friend  of  Mrs.  Eobards,  went 
down  the  river  from  Nashville  to  Natchez,  in  the  win- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  293 

ter  or  early  spring  of  1T91.  It  was  not,  however 
without  the  urgent  entreaties  of  Colonel  Stark,  who 
wanted  protection  from  the  Indians,  that  Jackson  con 
rented  to  accompany  them. 

"  Previously  to  Jackson's  starting,  he  committed  all 
his  law  business  to  me,  at  the  same  time  assuring  me 
that  as  soon  as  he  should  see  Col.  Stark  and  his  family 
and  Mrs.  Robards  situated  with  their  friends,  he  would 
return  and  resume  his  practice.  He  descended  the 
river,  returned  from  Natchez  to  Nashville,  and  was  at 
the  Superior  Court,  in  the  latter  place,  in  May,  1791, 
attending  to  his  business  as  a  lawyer  and  solicitor- 
general  for  the  government.  Shortly  after  this  time, 
we  were  informed  that  a  divorce  had  been  granted  by 
the  Legislature  of  Virginia, 

"  The  divorce  was  understood  by  the  people  of  this 
country  to  have  been  granted  in  the  winter  of  1790- 
1791.  I  was  in  Kentucky  in  the  summer  of  1791, 
remained  at  old  Mrs.  Robards',  my  former  place  of 
residence,  a  part  of  the  time,  and  never  understood 
otherwise  than  that  Captain  Robards'  divorce  was 
final,  until  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1793.  In  the 
summer  of  1791,  General  Jackson  went  to  Natchez, 
and,  I  understood,  married  Mrs.  Robards,  then  be- 
lieved to  be  freed  from  Captain  Robards,  by  the  di- 
vorce in  the  winter  of  1790-1791.  They  returned  to 
Nashville,  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city, 
where  they  have  lived  ever  since,  esteemed  and  beloved 
by  all  classes. 

"  About  the  month  of  December,  1793,  after  Gen- 
eral Jackson  and  myself  had  started  to  Jonesborough, 


294  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

in  East  Tennessee,  where  we  practised  law,  I  learned 
for  the  first  time  that  Captain  Robards  had  applied  to 
Mercer  Court,  in  Kentucky,  for  a  divorce,  which  had 
then  recently  beon  granted ;  and  that  the  Legislature 
had  not  absolutely  granted  a  divorce,  but  left  it  for  the 
Court  to  do.  I  need  not  express  my  surprise,  on  learn- 
ing that  the  act  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  had  not 
divorced  Captain  Robards.  I  informed  General  Jack- 
son of  this,  who  was  equally  surprised;  and  during 
our  conversation,  I  suggested  the  propriety  of  his  pro- 
curing a  license  on  his  return  home,  and  bavins;  the 
marriage  ceremony  again  performed,  so  as  to  prevent 
all  future  cavilling  on  the  subject. 

"To  this  suggestion,  he  replied  that  he  had  long 
since  been  married,  on  the  belief  that  a  divorce  had 
been  obtained,  which  was  the  understanding  of  every 
person  in  the  country ;  nor  was  it  without  difficulty 
he  could  be  induced  to  believe  otherwise. 

"  On  our  return  home  from  Jonesborough,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1794,  to  Nashville,  a  license  was  obtained,  and 
the  marriage  ceremony  again  performed. 

"  The  slowness  and  inaccuracy  with  which  informa- 
tion was  obtained  in  Tennessee  at  that  time,  will  not 
be  surprising  when  we  consider  its  insulated  and  dan- 
gerous situation,  surrounded  on  every  side  by  the  wil- 
derness, and  by  hostile  Indians,  and  that  there  was  no 
mail  established  until  about  1707." 

Subsequent  events  proved  this  marriage  to  be  one 
of  the  very  happiest  that  was  ever  formed.  A  roman- 
tic person  would  say  that  it  was  made  in  Heaven,  and 
certainly  it  had  the  requisites  of  a  heavenly  union. 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  295 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  admiration,  and  love,  and 
even  deference  of  General  Jackson  for  his  wife.  Her 
wish  to  him  was  law.  It  was  a  blessed  ordering  of 
Providence  that  this  kind,  good  heart  should  find  at 
last,  after  so  many  troubles,  a  tender  and  true  friend 
and  protector,  understanding  her  perfectly,  and  loving 
her  entirely. 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  a  noble  woman;  and  abundantly 
blessed  with  superior  sense.  She  was  a  good  manager, 
a  kind  mistress,  always  directing  the  servants,  and 
taking  care  of  the  estate  in  her  husband's  frequent 
absences,  and  withal  a  generous  and  hospitable  neigh- 
bor. 

She  had  a  great  many  nieces  and  nephews,  some 
of  whom  were  nearly  all  the  time  staying  with  her. 
She  was  very  lively  in  her  manners,  well  knowing  how 
to  tell  stories,  and  amuse  the  young  people  of  the 
neighborhood,  who  were  much  attached  to  her,  all 
calling  her  affectionately  iVunt  Rachel,  as  her  nieces 
and  nephews  did. 

About  the  year  1804,  General  Jackson  fixed  his 
residence  upon  a  superb  estate  of  a  thousand  acres, 
twelve  miles  from  Nashville,  which  he  named  the  Her- 
mitage. They  lived  at  first  in  an  ordinary  frame 
building,  sufficiently  comfortable,  but  rather  small. 
4  No  lack  of  space  in  the  house,  however,  could  contract 
the  liberal  and  hospitable  spirit  of  the  master  and  mis- 
tress of  the  Hermitage.  "When  the  Marquis  de  La- 
.  fayette  visited  Nashville  on  his  return  to  America, 
there  was  an  entertainment  given  in  his  honor  at  the 
Hermitage,  to  which  many  ladies  and  gentlemen  were 


296  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

invir^d.  At  tins  banquet,  and  during  Ms  stay  in  Nash 
ville,  General  Lafayette  was  particularly  respectful  and 
attentive  to  Mrs.  Jackson;  and  after  his  return  to 
France,  lie  never  failed,  in  writing  to  General  Jackson. 
to  send  her  his  compliments. 

But  the  General  was  the  "  prince  of  hospitality," 
as  one  of  his  neighbors  said,  "  not  because  he  enter- 
tained a  great  many  people,  but  because  the  poor 
I  ?d  pedlar  was  as  welcome  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  made  so  much  at  his  ease  that  he 
felt  as  though  he  had  got  home." 

One  who  often  visited  General  Jackson's  house, 
wrote  that  Kit  was  the  resort  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, and  of  all  strangers  visiting  the  state ;  and  the 
more  agreeable  to  all  from  the  perfect  conformity  of 
Mrs.  Jackson's  character  to  his  own.  She  had  the 
ral's  own  warm  heart,  frank  manners,  and  hospit- 
able temper,  and  no  two  persons  could  have  been  bet- 
ter suited  to  each  other,  lived  more  happily  together, 
or  made  a  house  more  attractive  to  visitors.  She  was 
alwavs  doing  kind  things  in  the  kindest  manner.  No 
bashful  youth  or  plain  old  man,  whose  modesty  set 
them  down  at  the  lower  end  of  the  table,  could  escape 
her  cordial  attention  any  more  than  the  titled  gentle- 
men at  her  right  and  left." 

She  had    no  children  of  her  own,  and  it  was  a  > 
source  of  regret  to  both  ;  but  a  fortunate  circumstance 
threw  a  little  child  across  her  pathway,  and  she  gladly 
took  the  babe  to  her  home  and  heart.     Her  brother  • 
had   twin    boys   born  to   him.  and  wishing  to  help 
her  sister  in  a  care  which  was  so   great,  took  one  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  297 

them  to  the  Hermitage  when  it  was  but  a  few  day? 
old. 

The  General  soon  became  extremely  attached  to 
the  little  guest,  and  adopted  hiin,  giving  him  his  own 
name,  and  treating  him  from  that  time  with  unremit- 
ting kindness  and  affection,  as  if  he  were  indeed  his 
only  son.  A  traveler,  who  arrived  at  the  Hermitage 
one  wet,  chilly  evening  in  February,  says,  "  I  came  upon 
General  Jackson  in  the  twilight,  sitting  alone  before 
the  fire,  a  lamb  and  a  child  between  his  knees.  See- 
ing me,  he  called  a  servant  to  remove  the  two  inno- 
cents to  another  room,  and  said  that  the  child  had 
cried  because  the  lamb  was  out  in  the  cold,  and  bested 
him  to  bring  it  in,  which  he  had  done  to  please  the 
child — his  adopted  son,  then  not  two  years  old.  This 
son,  Andrew  Jackson,  jr.  was  the  sole  heir  of  the  Gen- 
eral's large  estate.  His  widow  resides  yet  at  the  Her- 
mitage, at  the  request  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  which 
has  lately  purchased  the  place. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Xew  Orleans,  Mrs. 
Jackson  arrived  in  that  city  with  a  party  of  Tennes- 
seans,  bringing  with  her  the  little  Andrew,  then  about 
seven  years  old.  She  participated  in  the  attentions 
that  were  showered  upon  the  General,  who  showed 
her,  himself,  the  most  marked  respect  and  deference. 
The  ladies  of  Xew  Orleans  presented  her  with  a  valu- 
able and  beautiful  set  of  topaz  jewelry.  In  her  por- 
trait, at  the  Hermitage,  Mrs.  Jackson  wears  the  dress 
which  she  appeared  in  at  the  grand  ball  given  in  New 
Orleans,  in  honor  of  the  General.  It  is  white  satin, 
ornamented  with  lace,  and  jewelry   of  pearls.     This 


298  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

portrait  was  painted  by  Earl,  an  artist  who  married  a 
niece  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  and  resided  many  years  in 
General  Jackson's  family. 

In  1816  Mrs.  Jackson  joined  the  church,  while  at- 
tending the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn,  a 
Presbyterian  divine,  whom  she  ever  after  regarded  with 
the  deepest  veneration.  To  gratify  her,  General  Jack- 
son built  a  little  church  on  the  estate,  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  house.  It  was  plain  and  simple,  and 
small,  but  very  dear  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  who  spent  in  it 
many  happy  hours.  It  was  a  blessing  to  the  neighbors, 
who  found  it  convenient  and  pleasant  to  send  their 
children  to  Sunday  school,  and  to  attend  church  them 
selves  when  it  was  impossible  to  go  farther. 

A  new  house  was  built  during  the  summer  of  1819. 
It  was  erected  expressly  for  Mrs.  Jackson,  and  every 
thing  regarding  it  was  done  exactly  in  accordance  with 
her  wishes.  Major  Lewis,  who  visited  the  site,  recom- 
mended a  more  elevated  position  to  the  General.  "  No, 
Major,"  said  he,  "  Mrs.  Jackson  chose  this  spot,  and  she 
shall  have  her  wish.  I  am  going  to  build  this  house 
for  her ;  I  don't  expect  to  live  in  it  myself."  He  was 
at  the  time  very  feeble  and  exhausted  from  the  severe 
illness  succeeding  his  return  from  the  Seminole  war, 
and  was,  as  he  supposed,  not  long  for  this  world. 

The  house  is  situated  in  a  level  place,  rather  lower 
than  the  avenue  which  leads  to  it,  and  from  the  gate 
only  glimpses  of  it  can  be  obtained.  The  surrounding 
country  is  exceedingly  beautiful.  The  long  stately 
avenue  of  cedars  ends  in  an  oval-shaped  lawn  in  which 
stands  the  mansion.     Both  in  front  and  in  the  rear  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  .       299 

the  house,  there  are  grand  double  piazzas,  with  stone 
floors  supported  by  large  fluted  columns,  round  which 
cling  and  bloom  beautiful  rose  vines.  Under  the  shade 
of  these  drooping  tendrils,  General  Jackson  and  his 
cherished  wife  were  wont  to  saunter,  occasionally  stop- 
ping to  more  distinctly  hear  the  rich  notes  of  the 
southern  songsters,  or  to  catch  the  mournful  cry  of  the 
ring-dove  in  the  distant  cotton  field. 

The  walls  of  the  hall  are  covered  with  scenes  from 
Telemachus,  which  was  formerly  so  fashionable  for  pa- 
pering. The  fairy  beauty  of  Calypso's  enchanted 
island,  with  its  sparkling  fountains,  its  flowery  groves, 
its  elegant  pillared  palaces,  it3  danciug  nymphs,  its 
altars  of  incense  and  votive  wreaths,  its  graceful  groups 
of  statues  on  the  sea-shore,  and  above  all,  its  lovely 
queen  and  the  noble  youth  and  his  wise  Mentor,  lend 
an  air  of  interest  and  beauty  to  this  cool  hall,  which  is 
delightful.  There  is  hanging  here  a  handsome  portrait 
of  Columbus.  The  furniture  is  old-fashioned  and  dig- 
nified, and  there  are  several  busts  of  distinguished  men. 
That  of  General  Jackson  was  taken  by  Mr.  Persico, 
made  in  Italy  and  presented  to  the  General. 

The  parlors  are  large,  pleasant  rooms,  in  which 
there  are  many  curiosities,  and  various  odd  and  ex- 
quisite pieces  of  furniture  that  were  presented  at  dif- 
ferent times  to  General  Jackson.  The  house  is  spacious 
and  handsome.  "When  first  built,  it  was  the  most  ele- 
gant one  in  all  the  country  around.  It  was  a  gift  of 
love  from  the  General  to  his  beloved  wife,  when  he 
did  not  expect  to  survive  her  ;  and  it  was  arranged  to 
suit  her  slightest  wish,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting 


300        •  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

to  her  satisfaction,  which  it  was  possibly  in  his  power 
to  provide.  The  extensive  and  carefully  ordered  gar 
den  was  tended  and  overlooked  by  her,  and  contains  a 
great  many  sweet  shrubs  and  evergreens  and  beautiful 
Sowers,  a  large  number  of  which  she  planted  herself. 

In  1821  General  Jackson  was  appointed  Governor 
of  Florida,  and  left  the  Hermitage  the  18th  of  April, 
accompanied  by  Mrs.  Jackson  and  the  "two  An- 
drews," the  adopted  son  and  nephew — Andrew  Jack- 
son Donelson.*     The  following  September  she  wrote 

*  After  General  Jackson  landed  at  Blakely,  near  Mobile,  he  proceeded 
up  the  river  about  forty  miles,  to  a  military  post  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Brook,  and  called  "  Montpelier."  Here  lie  was  detained  some 
days,  during  which  time  he  learned  that  the  Indian  Chief  "  Weatherford," 
who  commanded  at  the  destruction  and  massacre  of  Fort  Mimms,  was 
living  but  a  few  miles  off.  General  Jackson  remembered  the  brave  con- 
duct of  the  Chief  at  the  battle  of  "  Horse  Shoe,"  where,  losing  the  most 
of  his  warriors,  he  surrendered  alone,  l-emarking,  that  "  he  had  fought  as 
long  as  he  had  men,  and  would  fight  longer  if  he  could ;"  t  and  at  his  sug- 
gestion Colonel  Brook  invited  the  Chief  to  dinner  the  following  day.  The 
next  day  his  appearance  attracted  much  attention  at  the  fort,  and  when 
dinner  was  announced,  General  Jackson  escorted  him  to  the  presence  of 
the  ladies,  introducing  him  to  Mrs.  Jackson  as  the  Chief  of  the  Creek 
Indians  and  the  bravest  of  his  tribe.  She  smilingly  welcomed  him  and 
said,  "  she  was  pleased  to  meet  him  at  the  festive  board,  and  hoped  that 
the  strife  of  war  was  ended  forever."  "  I  looked  up,"  he  said,  "  and  found 
all  eyes  upon  me,  but  I  could  not  speak  a  word.  I  found  something 
choked  me,  and  I  wished  I  was  dead  or  at  home."  Colonel  Brook  came 
to  his  rescue  by  replying  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  and  the  dinner  passed  off  pleas- 
antly, but  the  Chief  related  the  occurrence  a  few  years  later,  and  said, 
"ho  was  never  caught  in  such  quarters  again." 

t  "Weatherford's  words  were,  "  I  am  in  your  power.  Do  with  mo 
what  you  please.  I  have  done  the  white  people  all  the  harm  I  could.  I 
fought  them,  and  fought  them  bravely.  There  was  a  time  when  1  had  a 
choice;  I  have  none  now;  even  hope  is  dead.  Once  I  could  animate  my 
warriors  ;  but  I  cannot  animate  the  dead.  They  can  no  longer  hear  my 
voice  ;  their  bones  are  at  Tallushatches,  Talladega,  Emucfaw  and  To-ho- 
pe-ka." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  301 

to  a  friend  at  Nashville :  "  The  General,  I  think,  is 
the  most  anxious  man  to  get  home  I  ever  saw.  He 
calls  it  a  wild-goose  chase,  his  coming  here.  He  tells 
me  to  say  to  you  and  Captain  Kingsley,  that  in  the 
multiplicity  of  business,  if  he  had  or  could  have  seen 
any  advantages  for  your  better  prospects,  he  would 
have  written  Captain  Kingsley  long  since.  You  are 
in  the  best  country  in  America.  Oh,  how  ha3  this 
place  been  overrated.  We .  have  had  a  great  many 
deaths ;  still  I  know  it  is  a  healthy  climate.  Amongst 
many  disadvantages,  it  has  few  advantages.  I  pity 
Mr.  J,,  he  will  have  so  much  fatigue.  Not  one  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  has  come  to  this  place  yet ;  no,  not 
one ;  but  we  have  a  prayer  meeting  every  Sabbath. 
The  house  is  crowded  so  that  there  is  not  room  for 
them.  Sincere  prayers  are  constantly  sent  up  to  the 
Hearer  of  prayer  for  a  faithful  minister.  Ob,  what  a 
reviving,  refreshing  scene  it  would  be  to  the  Christians, 
though  few  in  number.  The  non-professor3  desire  it. 
Blessed  be  God,  he  has  a  few  even  here  that  are  bold 
in  declaring  their  faith  in  Christ.  You  named,  my 
dear  friend,  my  going  to  the  theatre.  I  went  once, 
and  then  with  much  reluctance.  I  felt  so  little  interest 
in  it,  however,  I  shall  not  take  up  much  time  in  apolo- 
gizing. My  situation  is  a  peculiar  one  at  this  time. 
I  trust  in  the  Lord  my  dear  child,  Andrew,  reached 
home  in  safety.  I  think  you  all  must  feel  a  great  deal 
for  me,  knowing  how  my  very  heart  recoiled  at  the 
idea  of  what  I  had  to  encounter.  Many  have  been 
disappointed.  I  have  not.  I  saw  it  as  plain  as  I  now 
do  when  it  is  passing.     Oh  Lord,  forgive,  if  thy  will, 


302  LADIES    OP    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

all  those  my  enemies  that  had  an  agency  in  the  matter. 
Many  wander  about  like  lost  sheep  ;  all  have  been  dis- 
appointed in  offices.  Crage  has  a  constable's  place  of 
no  value.  The  President  made  all  the  appointments 
and  sent  them  from  the  City  of  Washington." 

General  Jackson,  in  a  letter  to  Captain  John  Don- 
elson,  Sr.,  speaks  thus  of  his  wife : 

"  I  hope  we  will  be  able  to  leave  here  by  the  1st 
of  October  for  home.  Mrs.  Jackson's  health  is  not 
good,  and  I  am  determined  to  travel  with  her  as  early 
as  my  business  and  her  health  will  permit,  even  if  I 
should  be  compelled  to  come  back  to  settle  my  busi- 
ness and  turn  over  the  government  to  my  successor.  I 
am  determined  to  resign  my  office  the  moment  Congress 
meets,  and  live  near  you  the  balance  of  my  life.  *  * 
Before  this  reaches  you,  Colonel  Butler  and  our  little 
son  will  be  with  you,  I  hope.  I  trust  you  will  extend 
your  care  over  him  until  we  are  where  he  has  gone. 
You  may  be  sure  your  sister  will  not  remain  long  be- 
hind. We  all  enjoy  tolerable  health  at  present,  but  I 
am  wearied  with  business  and  this  hot  weather." 

Mrs.  Jackson  sighed  for  her  quiet  home  and  her 
little  church,  during  her  stay  in  Florida.  Pensacola 
was  so  different,  and  the  people  so  entirely  divided  in  all 
their  tastes  and  pursuits  from  the  devout  Christian  ma- 
tron, that  she  could  not  be  satisfied.  "  Three  Sabbaths," 
she  says,  "  I  spent  in  this  house  before  the  country  was 
in  possession  under  American  government.  The  Sab- 
bath profanely  kept,  a  great  deal  of  noise  and  swear- 
ing in  the  streets ;  shops  kept  open,  trade  going  on  I 
think  more  than  on  any  other  day.     The  were  so  bois- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  303 

terous  on  that  day  I  sent  Major  Stanton  to  say  to  them 
that  the  approaching  Sunday  would  be  differently 
kept.  And  must  I  say,  the  worst  people  here  are 
the  outcast  Americans  and  negroes !  Yesterday  I 
had  the  happiness  of  witnessing  the  truth  of  what 
I  had  said.  Great  order  was  observed;  the  doors 
kept  shut ;  the  gambling  houses  demolished ;  fid- 
dling and  dancing  not  heard  any  more  on  the  Lord's 
day ;  cursing  not  to  be  heard. 

Pensacola  is  a  perfect  plain :  the  •  land  nearly  as 
white  as  flour,  yet  productive  of  fine  peaches,  oranges 
in  abundance,  grapes,  figs,  pomegranates,  &c.  Fine 
flowers  grow  spontaneously,  for  they  have  neglected  the 
gardens  expecting  a  change  of  government.  The 
town  is  immediately  on  the  bay.  The  most  beautiful 
water  prospect  I  ever  saw ;  and  from  10  o'clock  in  the 
morning  until  10  at  night  we  have  the  finest  sea-breeze. 
There  is  something  in  it  so  exhilarating,  so  pure,  so 
wholesome,  it  enlivens  the  whole  system.  All  the 
houses  look  in  ruins,  old  as  time.  Many  squares  of 
the  town  appear  grown  over  with  the  thickest  shrubs, 
weeping- willows,  and  the  Pride  of  China :  all  look  neg- 
lected. The  inhabitants  all  speak  Spanish  and  French. 
Some  speak  four  or  five  languages.  Such  a  mixed  mul- 
titude you  nor  any  of  us  ever  had  an  idea  of.  There 
are  fewer  white  people  far  than  any  other,  mixed  with 
all  nations  under  the  canopy  of  heaven,  almost  in  na- 
ture's darkness." 

On  the  3d  of  November,  General  and  Mrs.  Jack- 
son arrived  at  the  Hermitage,  delighted  to  be  again  at 
that  home  within  whose  doors  the  angels,  Peace  and 


304  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Happiness  awaited  their  return,  and  sat  with  folded 
Winers. 

General  Jackson  set  out  for  Washington,  accompa- 
nied by  his  wife,  in  1824,  going  all  the  way  in  their 
own  coach  and  four,  and  being  twenty-eight  days  on 
the  journey.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Nashville,  she 
says,  "  We  are  boarding  in  the  same  house  with  the 
nation's  guest,  General  Lafayette.  When  we  first 
came  to  this  house,  General  Jackson  said  he  would  go 
and  pay  the  Marquis  the  first  visit.  Both  having  the 
same  desire,  and  at  the  same  time,  they  met  on  the  entry 
of  the  stairs.  It  was  truly  interesting.  At  Charleston, 
General  Jackson  saw  him  on  the  field  of  battle;  the 
one  a  boy  of  twelve,  the  Marquis,  twenty-three." 

A  great  many  persons  paid  their  respects  to  Mrs. 
Jackson.  She  says,  "  there  are  not  less  than  from  fifty 
to  a  hundred  persons  calling  in  one  day.'1  While 
wondering  at  "the  extravagance  of  the  people  in 
dressing  and  running  to  parties,1'  she  speaks  with  en- 
thusiasm of  the  churches  and  the  able  ministers. 

Soon  after  their  return  home,  Mrs.  Jackson's  health 
began  to  decline,  and  in  the  succeeding  yeara  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  campaign  for  the  presidency,  it  contin- 
ued delicate.  She  went  with  the  General  to  New  Or- 
leans, in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1S28,  and  witnessed 
his  splendid  reception  there.  "  She  was  waited  on  by 
Mrs.  Marigny  and  other  ladies,  the  moment  she  landed 
from  the  Pocahontas,  and  conducted  to  Mr.  Marigny's 
house,  where  refreshments  had  been  prepared,  and 
where  she  received  the  salutations  of  a  lar^e  and  bril- 
liant  circle.     The  festivities  continued  four  days,  at  the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  305 

end  of  which,  the  General  and  Mrs.  Jackson  and  their 
friends  reenibarked  on  board  the  Pocahontas  and  re- 
turned homeward." 

Mrs.  Jackson's  health  continued  to  fail,  and  no  ex- 
cursions or  remedies  were  found  availing.     She  had 

O 

suffered  from  an  affection  of  the  heart;  a  disease  which, 
increased  and  heightened  by  every  undue  excitement, 
was.  in  her  case,  exposed  to  the  most  alarming  ex- 
tremes and  continually  liable  to  aggravation.  The 
painful  paragraphs  in  regard  to  her  character  with 
which  the  papers  of  the  country  abounded,  wounded 
and  grieved  her  sorely.  The  circumstances  of  her 
marriage,  so  easily  misconstrued  and  so  lamentably  mis- 
understood by  many  whom  distance  and  meagre  infor- 
mation had  kept  in  ignorance,  were  used  by  the  poli- 
tical enemies  of  General  Jackson  as  lawful  weapons 
wherewith  they  might  assail  his  fair  fame  and  obstruct 
his  rapid  progress  to  the  highest  place  in  the  land. 
Considered  in  all  its  bearings,  there  is  not  in  the  whole 
world  a  position  more  honorable,  more  important,  or 
more  responsible,  than  that  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  Well  were  it  needful  to  choose  with 
circumspection  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  country  so 
vast,  of  a  people  so  intelligent  and  brave,  and  possess- 
ing the  elements  of  such  greatness  and  glory ;  who 
holds  in  his  grasp  such  a  multitude  of  destinies ;  and 
-n  ho  is  able,  by  his  decisions,  to  continue  the  sunshine 
of  prosperity,  or  to  bring  the  bitter  blasts  of  adver- 
sity and  discord.  Hence  the  ardor  and  even  the  des- 
peration of  the  struggles  for  victory  in  each  presiden- 
tial campaign.  The  same  enthusiasm  which  actuated 
20 


306  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  friends  of  General  Jackson,  actuated  also  bis  ene- 
mies ;  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  earnestness  and 
rancor  with  which  they  attacked  him.  Not  content 
with  reviling  him,  they  must  needs  drag  before  the 
public  the  long-forgotten  circumstances  of  his  mar- 
riage, and  wrest  them  to  suit  their  unworthy  purposes. 
The  kind  heart  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  though  wrung  with 
mortification  and  grief,  prompted  no  utterance  of  im- 
patience. She  said  very  little,  but  was  often  found  in 
tears.  Meanwhile,  her  health  continued  to  decline. 
It  was  too  hard  to  bear  that  he  to  whom  she  had.  de- 
voted the  affections  and  energies  of  her  long  life, 
should  be  taunted,  for  her  sake ;  that  he  should,  for 
her  sake,  be  considered  unworthy  of  the  trust  of  that  na- 
tion for  whose  defence  and  honor  he  had  undergone 
unnumbered  fatigues  and  conflicts  and  perils.  This  si- 
lent suffering  told  upon  her  spirits,  but  anxiety  to 
know  the  event  sustained  her. 

When  the  news  arrived  of  General  Jackson's  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency,  it  was  received  with  rejoicings 
and  hilarity  in  Nashville  as  everywhere  else,  but  with 
calmness  by  him  and  her  who  were  so  highly  honored. 
Her  gratification  must  have  been  too  deep  and  heart- 
felt to  be  expressed  with  noise  and  mirth.  Despite 
the  calumnies  which  their  enemies  had  heaped  upon 
her  and  the  General,  the  nation  had  bestowed  upon 
him  its  highest  gift ;  and  had  confided,  for  a  time,  the 
keeping  of  its  honor  and  well-being  into  his  hands. 
The  sorrows  through  which  she  had  passed,  those 
clouds  that  had  hung  over  her  thorny  way,  had  been 
dispersed  by  the  favoring  wind  of  truth,  and  the  bright 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  307 

rays  of  jDeace  shone  upon  her  heart.  But  she  was  not 
dazzled  by  the  new  prospects  opening  before  her 
The  splendors  and  gayeties  of  a  life  in  the  White  House 
could  offer  her  no  attractions.  Her  domestic  and  sini* 
pie  tastes  found  more  pleasure  in  her  own  home  and 
family-circle  at  the  beloved  Hermitage.  "For  Mr. 
Jackson's  sake,"  said  she,  "  I  am  glad ;  for  my  own  part, 
I  never  wished  it."  She  seemed  to  regret  the  necessity 
of  a  residence  in  "Washington,  and  remarked  to  a  friend 
with  an  expression  of  the  utmost  sincerity,  "  I  assure 
you  that  I  would  rather  be  a  door-keeperin  the  house  of 
my  God,  than  to  live  in  that  Palace  in  Washington." 

Mrs.  Jackson  always  purchased  all  the  clothing  and 
household  articles,  both  for  her  own  and  the  servants' 
use.  Desiring  to  arrange  every  thing  comfortable  dur- 
ing the  winter,  for  she  knew  that  General  Jackson 
would  have  many  friends  at  the  Hermitage,  she  made 
frequent  visits  to  Nashville,  and  on  one  occasion  heard 
the  thoughtless  remarks  of  persons  who  probably  for- 
got a  moment  afterward  the  words  which  broke  the 
heart  of  their  victim.  It  was  her  custom  usually  to 
2:0  to  one  of  her  most  intimate  friends  on  reachina;  the 
city,  and  have  the  horses  and  carriage  put  in  the  sta- 
ble, and  then  go  out  shopping ;  but  on  this  occasion, 
she  went  early  in  her  cumbrous  coach,  and  as  she  had 
many  places  to  visit,  determined  to  send  the  driver  to 
a  livery  stable  and  meet  it  in  the  afternoon  at  ihe 
Nashville  Inn,  then  the  principal  hotel  in  the  city. 

Weary  and  exhausted  after  a  tedious  day's  shop- 
ping, she  went. at  the  appointed  hour  to  the  parlor  of 
the  hotel,  and  while  waiting  there,  she  heard  her  name 


308  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

called  in  the  adjoining  room.  It  was  impossible  for 
her  not  to  hear,  and  there  she  sat,  pale  and  excited, 
listening  to  a  repetition  of  calummies  which  political 
strife  had  magnified  and  promulgated.  The  bare 
truthful  outlines  of  her  earlv  unfortunate  marriage 
were  given,  but  so  interwoven  with  false  misrepresen- 
tations, that  she  could  hardly  believe  herself  the  sub- 
ject of  remark.  All  she  did  hear  was  never  known, 
but  on  her  death-bed  she  told  the  circumstance  to  her 
husband,  and  then  he  understood  the  cause  of  her  vio- 
lent attack.  He  had  tried  to  keep  eveiy  paragraph 
and  abusive  line  out  of  her  sight,  and  hoped  that  now, 
after  the  election  was  decided,  this  unhappy  subject 
of ';  her  marriage  before  a  divorce  was  granted,'"  would 
be  dropped  forever.  She  had  acted  as  she  thought 
was  the  best,  and  indeed,  in  every  act  of  her  life  she 
discovered  the  fine  sense  she  displayed  in  her  conduct 
towards  her  first  husband.  But  the  malicious  envy  of 
people  who  could  not  bear  her  elevation,  caught  at 
every  straw  to  revile  her  pure  and  blameless  life.  Had 
she  lived  unhappily  with  General  Jackson,  there  might 
have  been  some  excuse  for  considering  her  a  weak 
woman  ;  but  her  long,  happy  and  beautiful  existent 
his  wife,  was  a  convincing  proof  of  her  affectionate 
nature,  and  religious,  high-minded  soul.  The  fatal 
eiTor  of  her  youth,  in  marrying  a  man  her  intellectual 
and  moral  inferior,  was  more  than  atoned  for  in  the 
miserable  years  she  spent  as  his  unappreciated  wife. 
She  was  sensitive  and  refined,  and  her  nature  revolted 
at  his  coarseness.  She  had  acted  rashly  in  marrying 
him,  but  she  was  loth  to  part  with  him.     W« 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  309 

to  blame  that  she  did  not  know  his  character  thor- 
oughly "before  her  marriage?  The  sigh  that  heaves 
from  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  women  as  they  recall 
a  similar  experience  attests  her  innocence.  "Was  she 
to  blame  for  marrying  again,  when  she  and  every  one 
who  knew  her  believed  her  free  ?  He  had  never  pro- 
vided a  home  for  her,  she  had  always  been  compelled 
to  live  either  with  her  mother  or  his,  thereby  sealing 
her  doom,  for  no  wife,  however  kind  her  husband  may 
be,  can  be  as  happy  in  the  home  of  her  parents  as  she 
could  in  one  of  her  own,  be  it  ever  so  lowly.  Captain 
Robards  never  tried  to  make  her  comfortable  or  con- 
tented, but  augmented  the  sorrows  of  her  young  heart 
by  a  course  of  conduct  revolting  in  even  the  most  de- 
graded of  men,  and  inexcusable  in  him,  since  he  was 
of  a  respectable  family,  and  supposed  to  be  somewhat 
cultivated. 

But  her  offence  was  •the  acceptance  of  a  protector 
and  friend,  who  would  shield  her  from  poverty  and 
unhappiness,  and  add  to  her  life,  what  she  had  never 
known,  a  husband  and  a  home.  The  bonds  of  a  civil 
marriage  had  been  dissolved,  not  by  her  efforts,  but  by 
her  ungenerous,  narrow-minded  husband,  and  she  had 
become  the  wife  of  a  man  eminently  suited  to  her. 
With  all  the  bitter  experience  of  her  short  married 
life,  she  trustingly  confided  her  happiness  into  the 
keeping  of  one  who  never  betrayed  it,  and  who  made 
her  existence  a  continued  source  of  iov.  In  the  hio-h- 
er  courts,  in  her  conscience,  but  one  marriage  tie  was 
recognized,  and  but  one  possessed  the  entire  affection 
of  her  young  and  chastened  heart. 


310  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

It  had  "been  arranged  that  a  grand  dinner  and 
ball  should  be  given  on  the  23d  of  December,  to 
General  and  Mrs.  Jackson,  that  day  being  the  anni- 
versary of  the  night-battle  below  New  Orleans ;  a  day 
rendered  celebrated  in  the  annals,  of  his  country  by 
his  own  heroic  achievements. 

A  week  previous  to  this  intended  festival,  and  a 
few  days  after  her  visit  to  Nashville,  Mrs.  Jackson  was 
seized  with  a  spasmodic  affection  of  the  muscles  of  the 
chest  and  left  shoulder,  attended  with  an  irregular 
action  of  the  heart,  and  great  anxiety  of  countenance. 
The  suspense  and  uneasiness  occasioned  by  the  late 
political  strife  being  at  an  end,  and  the  uncertainty  of 
the  event  no  longer  torturing  her,  she  could  bear  up 
no  farther.  One  of  the  physicians  in  attendance  upon 
her,  gives  the  following  minute  and  interesting  ac- 
count : 

"  Being  hastily  sent  for,  I  lost  no  time  in  rendering 
her  all  the  assistance  in  my  power.  Finding  she  had 
been  bled  before  my  arrival,  without  any  manifest 
abatement  of  the  symptoms,  I  repeated  the  operation, 
which  was  again  had  recourse  to  in  the  evening,  on 
the  arrival  of  Dr.  Hogg,  an  eminent  physician  of 
Nashville,  who  had  been  sent  for  simultaneously  with 
myself.  These  successive  bleedings,  together  with 
other  treatment,  produced  great  relief,  and  an  entire 
subsidence  of  all  the  alarming  symptoms.  The  three 
following  days  she  continued  to  improve;  she  was 
cheerful,  and  could  sit  in  her  chair  and  converse  with 
her  friends.  On  Monday  night,  however,  she  sat  up 
too  long,  caught  cold,  and  had  slight  symptoms  of 


LADIES    OP    TIIE    WHITE    HOUSE.  311 

pleurisy.  These  soon  yielded  to  the  proper  remedies  ■ 
a  profuse  perspiration  ensued,  which  it  was  though! 
proper  to  encourage  with  mild,  diluent  drinks  ;  every 
thing  promised  a  favorable  issue.  In  this  situation, 
after  Dr.  Hogg  and  myself  had  retired  to  an  adjoining 
room,  our  patient  unfortunately  got  up  twice  and  sat 
by  the  fire.  The  perspiration  "became  suddenly  checked. 
She  cried  out,  '  I  am  fainting,'  was  placed  in  bed,  and 
in  a  moment  afterwards  she  was  a  lifeless  corpse ! 

"  All  our  efforts  for  her  restoration  were  vain  and 
fruitless.  No  blood  could  be  obtained,  either  from  the 
arm  or  the  temporal  artery.  Sensibility  had  ceased, 
life  had  departed ;  and  her  meek  and  quiet  spirit 
sought  that  rest  with  her  God  and  her  Redeemer, 
which  a  cruel  world  refused  to  grant. 

"  From  a  careful  review  of  the  case,  there  seems  to 
be  no  doubt  but  that  there  was  a  sudden  reflux  of  the 
blood  from  the  surface  and  the  extremities,  upon  the 
heart  and  other  organs,  producing  an  engorgement 
and  consequent  spasm  of  that  important  discus.  That 
her  death  is  to  be  attributed  to  this  cause,  rather  than 
to  an  effusion  of  the  brain,  seems  to  be  inferable  from 
the  fact  of  the  total  and  instantaneous  cessation  of  the 
functions  of  the  heart.  Not  a  pulsation  could  be  per- 
ceived ;  her  lungs  labored  a  minute  or  two,  and  then 
ceased. 

u  How  shall  I  describe  the  agony — the  heart-rending 
agony — of  the  venerable  partner  of  her  bosom  ?  He 
had,  in  compliance  with  our  earnest  entreaties,  seconded 
by  those  of  his  wife,  left  her  chamber,  which  he  could 
seldom  be  persuaded  to  do,  and  had  lain  down  in  an 


512  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

adjoining  room,  to  seek  repose  for  his  harassed  mind 
and  body.  A  few  minutes  only  had  elapsed,  when  we 
were  hastily  summoned  to  her  chamber ;  and  the  Gen- 
eral, in  a  moment,  followed  ns.  But  he  was  only  in 
time  to  witness  the  last  convulsive  effort  of  expiring 
nature.  Then  it  was  that  all  the  feelings  of  the  de- 
voted husband  burst  forth.  His  breast  heaved,  and 
his  soul  seemed  to  struggle  with  a  load  too  oppressive 
for  frail  humanity.  Nor  was  he  the  only  mourner  on 
this  melancholy  occasion.  A  numerous  train  of  do- 
mestics crowded  around  the  bed  of  their  beloved  mis- 
tress, and  filled  the  room  with  their  piercing  cries. 
They  could  not  bring  their  minds  to  a  belief  of  the 
painful  reality  that  their  mistress  and  friend,  for  such 
indeed  she  was,  lay  before  them  a  lifeless  corpse. 
'  Oh  !  is  there  no  hope  ? '  was  their  agonizing  question  ; 
and  vainly  would  they  flatter  themselves  with  the  be- 
lief, that  perhaps  i  she  was  only  fainting.' 

"  The  distressing  event  spread  with  the  rapidity  of 
the  wind ;  aifd  neighbors  and  relatives  thronged  the 
house  from  midnight  until  late  the  following  morning. 
Soon  the  painful  tidings  reached  Nashville,  twelve 
miles  distant,  and  a  fresh  concourse  of  friends  pressed 
forward  to  show  their  respect  for  the  dead  and  to 
mourn  with  the  living.1' 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  December,  while 
active  preparations  for  the  expected  banquet  were  go- 
ing on,  and  many  bright  eyes  and  gay  hearts  were  al- 
ready, in  anticipation,  beginning  the  pleasures  of  the 
day,  the  afflicting  news  reached  the  city,  of  the  Presi- 
dent's unlooked-for  and  terrible  bereavement.     This 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  313 

gad  paragraph  appeared  in  the  papers  and  cast  a  gloom 
over  the  "breakfast-tables  where  so  many  had  assem- 
bled in  joy.  "In  the  midst  of  preparations  for  festi- 
vity and  mirth,  the  knell  of  death  is  heard,  and  on 
the  very  day  which  it  was  arranged  and  expected  that 
our  town  should  be  a  scene  of  general  rejoicing,  we 
are  suddenly  checked  in  our  career,  and  are  called  on  to 
array  ourselves  in  garments  of  solemnity  and  woe. 
Mrs.  Eachel  Jackson,  wife  of  General  Andrew  Jackson, 
President  elect  of  the  United  States,  died  last  night, 
at  the  Hermitage,  in  this  vicinity.  The  intelligence 
of  this  awful  and  unlooked-for  event  has  created  a 
shock  in  our  community  almost  unparalleled.  It  was 
known,  a  few  days  since,  that  Mrs.  Jackson  was  vio- 
lently attacked  by  disease ;  which,  however,  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  checked,  so  as  to  afford  a  prospect 
of  immediate  restoration  to  health.  This  day,  being 
the  anniversary  of  an  interesting  and  important  event 
in  the  last  war,  was  appropriately  selected  to  testify  the 
respect  and  affection  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  neigh- 
bors to  the  man  who  was  so  soon  to  leave  his  sweet 
domestic  retirement,  to  assume  the  responsibilities  and 
discharge  the  important  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  nation.  The  preparations  were  already  made ;  the 
table  was  well-nigh  spread,  at  which  all  was  expected  to 
be  hilarity  and  joy,  and  our  citizens  had  sallied  forth  on 
the  happy  morning  with  spirits  light  and  buoyant,  and 
countenances  glowing  with  animation  and  hope, — 
when  suddenly  the  scene  is  changed,  congratulations 
are  converted  into  expressions  of  condolence,  tears  are 
substituted  for  smiles,  and  sincere  and  general  mourn- 


314  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ing  pervades  a  community  where,  but  a  moment  be- 
fore, universal  happiness  and  public  rejoicing  prevailed. 
But  we  have  neither- time  nor  room,  at  present,  to  in- 
dulge in  further  reflections  on  this  melancholy  occur- 
rence.  Let  us  submit  with  resignation  and  fortitude  to 
the  decrees,  however  afnicting,  of  a  just  and  merciful, 
though  mysterious  and.  inscrutable  Providence." 

The  preparations  making  for  the  festivity  were  im- 
mediately stopped,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  melancholy 
information ;  and,  in  their  stead,  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements, together  with  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of 
the  city,  recommended,  to  the  citizens,  as  an  evidence 
of  their  deep  regret  and  sympathy  for  the  calamity 
which  had  befallen  their  honored  fellow-citizen,  to  sus- 
pend for  one  day  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  which 
was  cordially  observed.  In  the  course  of  the  morning, 
a  card  ei^ht  inches  Ions*  and  six  inches  wide,  with  a 
mourning:,  border  one-third  of  an  inch  in  width,  was 
printed,  containing  the  following  announcement : 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  citizens  of 
Nashville  to  superintend  the  reception  of  General 
.Jackson  on  this  day,  with  feelings  of  deep  regret,  an- 
nounce to  the  public  that  Mb&  Jacksoh  departed  this 
life  last  night,  between  the  hours  of  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock. 

"  Respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  and  a 
sincere  condolence  with  him  on  whom  this  providential 
afiliction  has  fallen,  forbid  the  manifestations  of  public 
regard  intended  for  the  day. 

"  In  the  further  consideration  of  the  painful  and  un- 
expected occasion  which  has  brought  them  together, 


LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  315 

the  committee  feel  that  it  is  due  to  the  exemplary 
virtues  and  exalted  character  of  the  deceased,  that 
some  public  token  should  be  given  of  the  high  regard 
entertained  towards  her  while  living.  They  have, 
therefore,  resolved, 

"That  it  be  respectfully  recommended  to  their 
fellow-citizens  of  Nashville,  in  evidence  of  this  feeling, 
to  refrain,  on  to-morrow,  from  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  life. 

"  Josiah  Nichol,  Chairman. 

"December  23." 

The  city  authorities  also  passed  suitable  resolutions, 
the  last  of  which  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  Nashville  are 
respectfully  invited  to  abstain  from  their  ordinary  busi- 
ness on  to-morrow,  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  Mrs.  Jackson, 
and  that  the  church  bells  be  tolled  from  one  until  two 
o'clock,  being  the  hour  of  her  funeral." 

These  proceedings  were  signed  by  Felix  Robertson, 
Mayor,  and  attested  by  E.  Dibbrell,  Recorder. 

About  a  fortnight  before  her  death,  she  remarked 
to  a  friend,  that  although  she  had  lived  with  Mr.  Jack- 
son  nearly  forty  years,  there  had  never  an  unkind  word 
passed  between  them,  and  the  only  subject  on  which 
they  ever  differed,  or  where  there  was  the  slightest 
opposition,  was  his  acceptance  of  appointments  when 
conferred  upon  him;  she  being  always  unwilling  for 
him  to  enter  upon  public  life.  Such  was  the  woman 
whom  General  Jackson  was  called  upon  to  separata 
from,  at  a  moment  of  all  others  the  most  trying. 


316  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Although  the  weather  was  unfavorable,  her  friends 
assembled  from  every  point,  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of 
respect  to  one  who  could  befriend  them  no  more. 
Every  vehicle  in  iSTashville,  and  there  were  more  at 
that  day  than  now,  in  proportion  to  the  population, 
was  put  in  requisition.  The  road  to  the  Hermitage 
had  not  been  macadamized,  and  it  was,  consequently, 
at  that  season  of  the  year  almost  impassable :  yet  an 
immense  number  of  persons  attended  the  funeral. 

AY  hen  the  hour  of  interment  drew  near,  the  Gen- 
eral, who  had  not  left  the  beloved  remains,  was  in- 
formed that  it  was  time  to  perform  the  last  sad  rites. 
The  scene  that  then  ensued  is  beyond  description. 
There  was  no  heart  that  did  not  ache,  no  eye  that 
did  not  weep.  Many  of  the  officers  present,  who  had 
shared  with  the  General  his  difficulties  and  dangers ; 
who  had  seen  him  in  the  most  trying  situations;  who 
had  eyed  him  when  his  gallant  soldiers  were  suffering 
for  food  to  sustain  life,  and  he  unable  to  relieve  them ; 
who  had  witnessed  him  on  the  battle-field,  when  the 
wounded  and  the  dying  were  brought  before  him,  and 
every  muscle  seemed  moved,  and  his  very  frame  ago- 
nized with  sorrow ;  yet  had  seen  no  suffering  however 
poignant  or  excessive,  affect  the  General  like  this  great 
affliction.  When  he  bade  his  final  adieu  to  the  last 
kindred  link  that  bound  him  to  earth,  his  Eoman  for- 
titude seemed  for  a  time  to  be  completely  overcome. 
It  was  a  soul-rendino*  sis;ht  to  see  an  old  veteran, 
whose  head  was  whitened  by  the  hardships  he  had 
endured  for  his  country,  bending  over  the  lifeless  form 
of  an  affectionate  wife,  whose  death  was  hastened  by 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  317 

the  cruelty  of  those  whose  rights' he  had  so  nobly  de- 
fended. By  a  muscular  and  almost  superhuman  effort, 
he  endeavored  to  check  the  current  of  his  grief;  and 
waving  his  hand  to  the  afflicted  company,  begged  them 
to  weep  no  more.  "  I  know,"  said  he,  "  it  is  unmanly, 
but  these  tears  were  due  to  her  virtues.  She  shed 
many  for  me."  But  one  wish  pervaded  the  assembly, 
that  the  individuals  who  had  hastened  this  scene  by 
their  relentless  attacks  on  an  unoffending  woman,  could 
be  brought  to  witness  the  saddest  spectacle  that  any 
present  had  ever  beheld. 

But  they  were  not  there  to  witness  the  effects  of 
their  calumnies.  She  was  dead,  and  they  were 
aveuged.  Ever  after  that  funeral,  his  opponents  com- 
plained that  his  personal  feelings  were  allowed  to  gov- 
ern his  public  acts,  and  that  to  be  suspected  by  him 
of  having  believed  aught  of  slander  against  his  wife, 
was  the  unpardonable  crime  which  he  never  forgave. 
Brave  old  Hero  !  how  deathless  was  the  feeling  which 
to  the  latest  hour  of  his  life  displayed  the  same 
strength  it  had  ever  discovered !  Silent  and  grave  he 
was  on  the  subject,  but  forgetfulness  or  indifference  did 
not  occasion  such  a  course  of  action,  as  too  many  found 
to  their  sorrow.  A  dangerous  look  in  his  flashing  eye 
satisfied  any  one  of  the  sacred  ground,  and  few  braved  his 
ano-er  by  recalling  an  unpleasant  recollection  connected 
with  her.  The  inhumanity  of  the  world  robbed  him 
of  his  treasure,  and  darkened  his  life,  but  while  he 
lived  her  name  was  a  hallowed  sound  breathed  in  the 
darkened  recesses  of  his  bruised  and  lonely  heart, 
which  cheered  him  on  to  the  portals  of   the  tomb 


318  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

through  which  she  'had  passed  to  immortality.  Tho 
dear  remains  were  interred  in  a  corner  of  the  Hermi- 
tage garden;  and  thither  the  afflicted  General  was 
supported  by  General  Coffee  and  Major  Rutledge. 
The  following  gentlemen  were  pall-bearers : — Governor 
Sam  Houston,  Col.  Ephraim  H.  Foster,  Col.  George 
Wilson,  Gen.  Robert  Armstrong,  Col.  Sam.  B.  Mar- 
shall, Col.  Allen,  Mr.  Solomon  Clark,  and  Major  G. 
W.  Campbell. 

A  resident  of  Nashville,  writing  to  his  brother  in 
Philadelphia,  said:  "Such  a  scene  I  never  wish  to  wit- 
ness again.  I  never  pitied  any  person  more  in  my  life 
than  General  Jackson.  I  never  before  saw  so  much 
affliction  among  servants  on  the  death  of  a  mistress. 
Some  seemed  completely  stupefied  by  the  event ;  others 
wruns:  their  hands  and  shrieked  aloud.  The  woman 
that  had  waited  on  Mrs.  Jackson  had  to  be  carried  off 
the  ground.  After  the  funeral,  the  General  came  up  to 
me  and  shook  my  hand.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  men- 
tioning my  name,  he  again  caught  my  hand, '  and 
squeezed  it  three  times,  but  all  he  could  utter  was 
*  Philadelphia.''     I  shall  never  forget  his  look  of  grief." 

By  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Jackson,  the  widow 
of  General  Jackson's  adopted  son,  I  am  in  possession 
of  a  book  compiled  by  Mr.  Earl,  under  the  direction 
of  the  General  himself,  entitled  in  gilt  letters  on  the 
back,  "  Obituary  Notices  of  Mrs.  Jackson."  It  con- 
tains the  funeral  card  before  mentioned ;  a  great  num- 
ber of  eulogies  taken  from  the  papers  of  the  day ;  in- 
numerable paragraphs  expressive  of  respect  and  sym- 
pathy ;  -and  a  synopsis  of  the  funeral  sermon,  in  manu. 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         319 

script.  It  was  preached  by  the  Reverend  William 
Hume,  of  Nashville,  and  has  never  heretofore  been 
published.  It  will  be  found  interesting,  not  only  as 
the  funeral  discourse  of  so  eminent  a  lady,  but  as  a 
specimen  of  a  sermon  delivered  forty  years  ago,  in  a 
country  so  undeveloped  as  Tennessee  was  in  those 
days. 

i;  The  righteous  shall  he  in  everlasting  rememhrance." 

Psalm  cxii.,  6th  verse. 

"  These  words  might  be  applied  to  that  venerable 
matron,  with  much  propriety,  as  she  gave  every  rea- 
sonable evidence  that  she  was  anions:  the  rio;hteou3. 
Indeed,  as  her  name  is  indissolubly  connected  with 
that  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  it  shall  be 
held  in  remembrance  while  the  page  of  history  dis- 
plays the  memorable  actions  of  General  Jackson.  The 
words  of  the  Psalmist,  however,  are  applicable  to  her 
in  a  much  nobler  sense. 

"The  death  of  this  worthy  lady  is  much  deplored, 
not  only  by  her  distinguished  husband  and  immediate 
relations,  but  by  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  Her  character  was  so  well 
known  to  multitudes  who  visited  the  Hermitage,  the 
abode  of  hospitality,  that  the  following  remarks  will 
readily  be  acknowledged  as  true  :— 

"With  respect  to  her  religious  principles,  they 
were  such  as  are  held  sound  by  all  religious  denomina- 
tions that  are  commonly  called  evangelical.  Convinced 
of  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  as  taught  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  she  relied  on  the  spirit  of  Grod  alone 


320  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

to  illuminate,  renovate  and  purify  that  nature  that  it 
might  be  qualified  for  the  unspotted  society  of  heaven. 
Believing  with  the  inspired  Paul,  that  by  the  works 
of  the  law,  no  flesh  can  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  God, 
her  dependence  for  eternal  life  was  placed  on  the 
merits  and  mediation  of  Jesus.  Fully  persuaded  that 
the  law  is  holy  and  the  commandment  holy,  and  that 
God  will  not  acquit  the  sinner  from  condemnation,  in 
a  way  that  will  conceal  the  dignity  of  His  government, 
the  purity  of  His  nature,  the  truth  of  His  threatening 
or  the  glory  of  his  unchangeable  justice,  she  derived 
all  her  hope  of  acceptance  with  God  from  Him  who 
'bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree;  who  suf- 
fered, the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to 
God.' 

While,  however,  her  whole  dependence  for  accept- 
ance with  God  was  founded  upon  the  atonement  of 
the  Son  of  God,  through  whom  grace  reigns  unto  eter- 
nal life,  she  knew  that  this  doctrine  did  not  tend  to 
immorality.  She  was  taught  by  Paul  that  holiness  is 
always  inseparably  connected  with  this  dependance  on 
the  merits  of  the  Saviour,  and  that  every  motive  to 
holiness  arising  from  interest  or  gratitude  or  the  pleas- 
ures of  religion  remains  in  full  force ;  she  therefore 
abounded  in  good  works.  Assured  by  the  infallible 
testimony  of  her  Lord  and  Master,  that  every  branch 
of  the  true  vine,  as  it  derives  its  verdure,  beauty,  vigour, 
and  sap  from  the  vine  is  fruitful,  she,  a  genuine  branch 
was  so  too.  In  acts  of  piety,  as  adoration,  thanksgiv- 
ing and  praise,  she  took  delight.  Her  seat  was  seldom 
empty  in  the  house  of  God.     Though  very  often  sur- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  321 

rounded  with  company  from  every  State  in  the  Union, 
neither  she  nor  her  illustrious  husband  neglected  the 
house  of  God  on  that  account.  The  tears  of  genuine 
penitence  were  often  shed  by  her  in  the  temple  of  the 
Lord.  She  had  a  tender  and  a  feeling  heart,  and  some- 
times I  have  seen  the  tears  bedewing  her  cheeks  while 
she  was  speaking  of  the  dangerous  condition  of  those 
around  her,  who  seemed  to  be  entirely  careless  about  a 
future  state.  Indeed,  her  devotional  spirit  was  mani- 
fest in  all  her  conduct.  She  meditated  on  the  wonders 
of  redeeming  love  with  much  delight,  as  the  source  of 
her  present  joy  and  future  hope  of  glory.  Indeed, 
her  piety  was  acknowledged  by  all  who  knew  her,  as 
it  manifested  itself  by  the  most  unequivocal  proofs ;  a 
reverential  awe,  a  supreme  love  and  profound  venera- 
tion for  the  incomparable  excellences  of  God,  and  a 
cordial  gratitude  to  Him  as  the  source  of  all  her  mer- 
cies. Her  love  to  God  was  displayed  by  an  un usual 
obedience  to  His  commands  and  by  an  humble  submis 
sion  to  His  providence. 

"As  a  wife,  connected  with  one  who  stood  so  high 
in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow-citizens,  she  was,  as  a 
Christian,  exposed  to  some  peculiar  temptations;  for 
who  can  resist  the  fascinations  of  honor  and  of  power? 
While  she  rejoiced  in  the  honor  of  a  nation  of  freemen 
spontaneously  given  to  a  husband  so  dear  to  her  heart, 
yet  no  unbecoming  elation  of  mind,  no  haughtiness, 
no  overbearing  conduct,  could  ever  be  seen,  even  by  an 
inimical  eye,  in  this  amiable  lady.  She  was  adorned 
with  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  in  an 
eminent  degree.  Esteem  and  affection  were  so  mixed 
21 


322  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

in  her  bosom  for  her  husband,  that  her  respectful  be- 
havior to  him,  in  her  house  and  among  her  connections 
and  acquaintances,  struck  every  beholder  as  the  soft 
impulse  of  the  sweetness  of  her  disposition ;  so  that 
by  her  kindness  and  affability,  her  husband  was  more 
happy  in  his  own  family  than  in  the  midst  of  his  tri- 
umphs. In  consequence  of  her  amiable  manners,  his 
own  house  was  the  chief  place  of  his  enjoyment. 

"The  tears  and  lamentations  of  the  servants  are 
proofs  of  the  most  unequivocal  kind  of  her  excellence 
as  the  mistress  of  her  household.  Never  did  children 
seem  to  mourn  more  sincerely  for  a  mother  than  the 
household  servants  lament  for  her.  The  cordial  re- 
gard of  her  servants  may  well  be  attributed  to  the 
gentleness  of  her  commands,  the  calmness  of  her  tem- 
per, and  her  tenderness  in  treating  them  in  health  and 
in  sickness.     She  was,  indeed,  a  mother  to  her  family. 

"The  widow  and  the  orphan  will  long  lament  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  In  the  circle  of  the  widows 
and  orphans  her  benevolence  accompanied  with  the 
most  substantial  acts  of  beneficence,  shone  with  dis- 
tinguished splendor.  To  her  the  words  of  Job  may  be 
properly  applied:  '  "When  the  ear  heard  her,  then  it 
blessed  her ;  and  when  the  eye  saw  her,  it  gave  wit- 
ness to  her,  because  she  delivered  the  poor  that  cried, 
and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 
The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  her,  and  she  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for 
joy.  She  put  on  righteousness,  and  it  clothed  her. 
Her  judgment  was  a  robe  and  a  diadem.  She  was 
eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  to  the  lame,  and  a  mother 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  323 

to  the  poor.1  Blest  with  affluence,  she  had  a  heart  to 
feel  and  a  hand  to  relieve  the  poor  and  the  needy. 
She  viewed  the  bounties  of  Providence  not  ouly  to 
refresh  herself  and  her  family,  but  as  designed  by  her 
Benefactor  to  now  in  channels  leading  to  the  doors  of 
those  who  were  perishing  of  thirst,  that  they,  also, 
might  quaff  and  be  satisfied. 

"Some  indeed,  during  the  presidential  struggle, 
with  unfeeling  hearts  and  unjustifiable  motives,  exerted 
all  their  powers  to  throw  her  numerous  virtues  into 
the  shade.  It  was,  no  doubt,  the  intention  of  the  de- 
famers  to  arouse  the  indignation  of  her  husband  that 
he  might  perpetrate  some  act  to  prevent  his  elevation 
to  that  high  station  to  which  the  Americas  people  re- 
solved that  he  should  be  raised.  Under  this  cruel 
treatment  Mrs.  Jackson  displayed  the  temper  of  a  dis- 
ciple of  Him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart.  Her 
meekness  was  conspicuous  under  all  the  injuries  and 
provocations  which  were  designed  to  provoke  and  ex- 
asperate her.  Seldom,  indeed,  has  the  busy  tongue  of 
slander  and  detraction  been  more  gratuitously  and 
basely  employed ;  never  was  it  put  to  silence  with  more 
helplessness  and  confusion  than  in  the  case  of  this 
amiable  and  pious  lady.  Influenced  by  the  religion 
that  she  professed,  she  restrained  all  immoderate  sallies 
of  passion  and  harsh  language  on  that  trying  occasion. 
She  felt,  indeed,  the  injustice  of  the  warfare.  Her 
compassionate  heart  was  wrung  with  sorrow.  Her 
tears  flowed,  but  there  was  no  malevolence  in  her 
bosom.  She  could  have  received  no  pleasure  in  giving 
pain  to  her  detractors.     Confiding  in  God,  that  He 


324  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

would  bring  forth  her  righteousness  as  the  light,  and 
her  salvation  as  a  lamp  that  burneth,  she  was  not  disap- 
pointed. 

"  She  was  permitted  to  live  until  the  people  of 
America,  by  their  unbiassed  suffrage,  asserted  their  full 
conviction  of  her  innocence  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
shame  and  confound  the  most  furious  and  unprincipled 
of  her  detainers.  Yes,  she  lived  to  see  every  cloud  of 
calumny  blown  away  by  the  united  breath  of  the 
American  people ;  and  found  herself  and  her  beloved 
husband  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  unclouded  sky,  fa- 
voured with  the  smiles  and  the  esteem  of  a  people  un- 
influenced by  detractors  and  qualified  to  form  their 
own  opinions. 

"  While  we  cordially  sympathize  with  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  irreparable  loss  he  has  sus- 
tained in  the  death  of  his  amiable  lady,  whom  he 
deemed  so  worthy,  as  he  said,  of  our  tears ;  we,  from 
our  long  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Jackson,  and  our  many 
opportunities  of  seeing  her  virtues  displayed,  cannot 
doubt  but  that  she  now  dwells  in  the  mansions  of 
glory  in  company  with  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  sing- 
ing the  praises  of  that  Saviour  whom  she  loved  and 
served  while  she  was  a  pilgrim  on  earth.  In  heaven, 
she  drinks  of  the  pure  stream  of  the  river  of  life,  is- 
suing-from  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb." 

Various  newspapers,  and.  among  them,  the  Mercury 
of  Philadelphia,  clothed  their  columns  in  the  badge  of 
mourning ;  which  was  "  alike  merited,"  says  the  Me?*- 
cury,  "  by  his  services  and  fame  and  her  virtues  and 
piety." 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         325 

The  ladies  of  Abingdon,  Virginia,  met  and  entered 
into  resolutions  to  transmit  to  General  Jackson  a  letter 
"  assuring  him  of  the  sincere  regard  they  bore  the  char- 
acter and  person  of  his  deceased  lady,  and  the  sorrow 
they  feel  at  his  afflictive  bereavement,1'  and  also  to 
wear  mourning  badges  on  their  dresses  for  thirty  days. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  condolence  to 
General  Jackson : — 

January  5th,  1829. 

"  Dear  Sir: — We  have  heard,  with  the  deepest 
sorrow,  of  your  late  afflictive  bereavement  in  the  death 
of  your  truly  pious  and  amiable  wife ;  and  we  have 
met  to  mingle  our  tears  with  yours  for  the  irreparable 
loss  you  have  sustained.  To  weep  on  such  an  occasion 
is  not  blamable ;  it  is  but  a  becoming  tribute  to  de- 
parted worth ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  we  should  bow 
with  submission  to  the  will  of  Him  who  '  gives  and  who 
takes  away  at  his  pleasure.'  She  has  gone,  we  trust, 
to  those  mansions  '  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troub- 
ling and  the  weary  are  at  rest,1  where  the  voice  of 
malice  cannot  reach  her  or  the  tongue  of  calumny  dis- 
turb her. 

"  On  such  an  occasion,  when  religion  is  deprived  of 
one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and  society  of  one  of 
its  most  valuable  members,  we  consider  it  our  duty  to 
offer  to  her  memory  the  tribute  of  esteem  which  is  due 
to  her  worth ;  and  to  give  you,  Sir,  our  sincerest  condo- 
lence for  this  late  afflictive  dispensation.  At  the  same 
time,  we  offer  our  fervent  prayer  to  the  Almighty  dis- 
poser of   human  events,  that  your  administration  of 


826  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  high  office  to  which  you  have  lately  been  elected 
may  be  as  wise  and  happy  as  your  military  career  was 
brilliant  and  successful. 

"SaeahP.  Peestox." 

This  beautiful  effusion  of  the  finest  feeling  does  in- 
finite credit  to  the  highly  esteemed  authoress.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  General  William  Campbell,  who  so 
gloriously  commanded  the  Virginia  militia,  and  after- 
wards a  gallant  corps  in  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
House,  who  in  the  language  of  the  historian,  were  "  the 
first  engaged  and  the  last  to  quit." 

The  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  unanimously  adopted  a  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions in  regard  to  the  death  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  Joseph 
C.  Strong  was  Mayor,  and  William  Swan,  Kecorder. 
Colonel  Jacobs  offered  the  paper,  and  we  annex  the 
resolutions : — 

u  Resolved,  That  while  we  deeply  regret  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Jackson,  we  cannot  but  express  our  gratitude 
to  the  Supremo  Governor  of  the  universe,  that  she  was 
not  taken  from  time  to  eternity  until  the  people  of 
the  Union  had  given  a  clear  and  distinct  manifestation 
of  the  high  estimation  in  which  they  held  the  reputa- 
tion of  herself  and  husband. 

';  Resolved,  That  in  cDnsequence  of  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Jackson,  the  Mayor  be  directed  to  request  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Nelson  to  preach  a  sermon  suitable 
to  the  occasion,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  at 
eleven  o'clock  a.  it,  on  Thursday,  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary next. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  327 

':  Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  Knoxville  be 
respectfully  requested  to  attend  church,  and  abstain 
from  their  ordinary  business  on  Thursday,  the  first  day 
of  January  next,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  the  deceased.     Dec.  29,  1828." 

In  accordance  with  the  request  contained  in  the 
second  resolution,  the  Reverend  Thomas  H.  Nelson 
preached  a  funeral  sermon  on  Thursday  the  first  day 
of  January,  1829. 

The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New  York 
passed  resolutions  of  condolence  to  mark  their  ■'  defer- 
ence for  her  domestic  virtues,  her  benevolence  and  her 
piety."  An  authenticated  copy  of  these  resolutions 
was  forwarded  to  General  Jackson. 

A  public  gathering  assembled  at  the  Vine  Street 
Meeting  House,  Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  at  which  a  very 
large  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  resolutions, 
which  they  did,  in  honor  of  "  a  lady  in  whom  by  uni- 
versal consent,  the  practical  charities  of  the  heart  were 
gracefully  blended  with  the  purest  and  most  unaffect- 
ed piety." 

On  the  8th  of  January,  throughout  the  country, 
instead  of  the  customary  firing  of  cannon  commemora- 
tive of  the  day,  a  solemn  silence  was  maintained,  as  a 
token  of  respect  for  the  deceased.  At  various  public 
dinners  on  that  day,  Mrs.  Jackson's  death  was  alluded 
to  in  the  most  gentle  and  sympathetic  terms.  As  an 
illustration  of  the  tone  and  spirit  of  these  allusions,  we 
copy  the  following.  At  Boston,  this  toast  was  offered 
by  S.  Fessenden,  Esq.,  "  The  memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson, 
— sadness  to  our  joy,  but  for  the  bright  hope  that  the 


323  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

event  which  hath  wrought  for  hint  whose  praise  we 
celebrate  a  cypress  chaplet,  hath  introduced  her  whose 
memory  we  revere  and  whose  death  we  deplore,  to  a 
crown  of  unfading  glory." 

In  New  Orleans  the  following  toast  was  offered : 
'The  memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson, — an  example  of  piety, 
benevolence,  and  every  Christian  virtue.  '  The  only 
amaranthine  flower  on  earth  is  virtue.' " 

In  Nashville,  Capt.  Fairish  presented  this, — "  The 
memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson." 

In  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  at  the  celebration  of 
the  members  of  the  Legislature,  the  following  toast  was 
drank  : — "  The  memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson, — the  amia- 
ble wife  of  the  slandered  hero.  The  grave  now  shrouds 
her  mortal  remains,  but  her  virtues  will  shine  in  bril- 
liant purity,  when  her  unprincipled  slanderers  are  lost 
to  the  memoiy  of  man." 

A  touching  reference  to  the  sad  event  was  made 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the  Hon.  Pryor 
Lea,  of  the  Tennessee  Delegation. 

And  so  hundreds  of  pages  of  eulogies  published  in 
every  section  of  the  Republic  might  be  copied. 

Many  pieces  of  poetry  mourning  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Jackson  appeared  in  the  papers,  one  of  which,  from  the 
Cincinnati  Advertiser,  is  subjoined. 

MONODY 

Ox  the  Death  of   Mes.  Jacksox. 

"As  wintry  blasts  succeed  the  summer's   bloom, 
Ar.d   summer  suns   give   place  to   winter's  gloom; 
As   to  mom's  radiance   o'er   creation   spread, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  329 

The  night  succeeds,  when  every  ray  is  fled ; 
Or  as   the   heart,   but   erst  with  joy   elate, 
To  sorrow  turns  beneath  some  stn  >ke  of  fate ; 
So  a  joy'd  nation  Fate  has  bid  to   turn 
Its  smiles  of  joy  to  tears  o'er  Virtue's  urn. 
Sacred  the  numbers  breathed  in  Virtue's  name, 
Dear  still  to  goodness,  if  unknown  to  lame. 
Be  thine  the  grateful  task,  0  humble  muse, 
(Virtue's  thy  iheme,  and  thou  canst  ne'er  refuse,) 
Be  thine  the  task  that  goodness  to  deplore, 
Which  Death,  relentless,  bids  to  be   no  more; 
To  sing  th'  unspotted  life,  unknown  to  blame, 
But  every  virtue  dear  to  woman's  name ; 
The  meek-eyed  charity,  the  guileless  heart, 
The  long  enduring  under  sorrow's  smart ; 
The  ready  friend  to  comfort  in  distress; 
The  hand  as  willing  as  the  heart  to  bless; 
The  every  charm  exalted  virtue  lends, 
Conferring   blessings  as  its  means  extends ; 
The  mind  sincere,  unknown  to  pious  guile; 
Which  ne'er  deceit,  dh-honest,  could  defile, 
But  still  intent  religion  to  obey, 
And  .is  she  taught  its  precepts,  led  the  way; 
To  all  its  active  impulses  awake, 
And  virtuous  only  for  fair  virtue's  sake. 

"Scarce  was  the  contest  o'er,   the  victory  won, 
Mysterious  Fate !   But  half  thy  will  was  done. 
From  that  first  hour  a  nationmade  its  choice 
Of  him  in  whose  great  name  its  sons  rejoice, 
From  the  first  hour  the  grateful  news  was  hailed, 
Even  from  that  hour  her  gentle  spirit  failed. 
While  o'er  the  land  loud   peals  of  triumph  rang, 
Her  milder  nature  felt  the  mortal  pang, 
Which  still  protracted,  nought  availed  to  save 
Her  suffering  nature  from  an  honored  grave. 

•* Eternal  Providence!   Whate'er  thy  ways, 
5Tis  still  our  duty  to  adore  and  praise. 
Lo,    the   bright  virtues  from   her   earliest   time, 
Which  souls  ungenerous  slandered  into  crime. 


830  LADIES    OF    THE   wniTE    HOUSE. 

Lo,  Hot  loved  husband's  fame,  by  foes  assailed, 

Impotent  still.     And  -while  each  effort  failed, 

Behold  ihem  torn   with  most  dishonest-  arts, 

Against  domestic  Peace,  their  venomed  carts. 

Nor  sex,  nor  p:ui:y,  nor  honored  age 

Could  s:ive  them  from  the  shafts  of  blinded  rage. 

Te:  she  b'.'.t  lived  to'  triumph  and  to  see 

Her  fame  proved  pure  as  'twas  designed  to  be, 

When    Nature,  in  her  great  and  high  behest, 

Formed,  of  her  daughters,  her  among  the  best. 

Yet  shall  her  cherished  memory  long  endure, 

To  still  assuage  the  grief  it  may  not  cure. 

As  when  the  glorious  sun  retires  to   resfcj 

He  leaves  a  gulden  twilight  in  the  west. 

WLere  the  mild  radiance  of  his  thousand  rays, 

Illumes  the  skies  and  gladdens  every  gaze; 

So  the  remembrance  of  her  virtues  dt-ar 

Sha'l  o'er  the  hearts  of  tho;e  who  lovfd  her  here, 

Shed  the  mild  radiance  of  that  tranquil  joy, 

Which  death,  nor  fate,  nor  ill  can  e'er  desiroy." 

Until  a  few  clays  before  Lis  death,  the  General 
wore  always  around  his  neck  and  hidden  in  his  bosom 
a  miniature  of  Mrs.-  Jackson,  on  the  back  of  which  is 
a  pretty  little  wreath  made  of  his  and  her  hair.  The 
cliain  to  which  it  is  attacked  is  curiously  wrought  of 
black  beads  intermineled  with  a  flower-work  of  bright 
gold  ones,  into  which  these  words  are  skilfully  intro- 
duced'. "Presented  to  General  Andrew  Jackson,  as  a 
token  of  esteem,  from  Caledonia  M.  Gibson.  May  bless- 
ings crown  thy  hoary  head."'  Every  night  he  placed 
this  miniature  on  a  little  table,  by  his  bedside,  leaning 
against  his  Bible,  with  the  beloved  face  towards  him, 
so  that  the  kind,  familiar  smile  should  be  his  first 
greeting  when  he  waked.  His  grand-daughter,  now 
Mrs.  LaAvrence,  bears  the  honored  name  of  his  wife, 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  331 

Eacliel  Jackson,  and  was  an  especial  favorite  of  bis. 
His  eyes  were  often  fixed  upon  her  during  his  last  ill- 
ness with  peculiar  interest  and  affection.  One  morn- 
ing within  a  few  days  of  his  death,  when  she  came  to 
bid  him  good-bye,  before  starting  to  the  city  to  school, 
he  threw  the  chain  around  her  neck  and  asked  her  to 
wear,  for  his  sake,  the  miniature  he  had  loved  and 
worn  so  long. 

In  a  comer  of  the  garden  at  the  Hermitage  there 
is  a  simple  elegant  monument  raised  over  the  vault  in 
which  lie  the  remains  of  General  Jackson  and  his  wife. 
The  steps  run  around  the  circular  area,  eighteen  feet 
across.  From  this  platform  spring  eight  fluted  columns 
of  the  Doric  order,  surmounted  by  a  handsome  entab- 
lature supporting  the  dome,  which  is  crowned  with  a 
funereal  urn.  On  the  interior,  a  plain  cornice  of 
vaulted  ceiling,  stuccoed  in  white,  gives  an  air  of  purity 
and  comeliness,  well  suited  to  a  tomb.  From  the  cen- 
tre of  the  platform  rises  a  pyramid  on  a  square  base. 
On  the  floor,  on  each  side  of  this  pyramid,  lie  the 
tablets  which  contain  the  inscriptions.  The  one  on  the 
left  is  the  General's,  which  bears  only  his  name  and 
the  record  of  his  birth  and  death.  The  hand  of  an 
undying  affection  has  covered  the  other  with  a  long 
and  tender  testimony  to  her  worth.     It  runs  thns  : 

"  Here  lie  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson, 
wife  of  President  Jackson,  who  died  the  22d  Decem- 
ber, 1828,  aged  61.  Her  face  was  fair,  her  person 
pleasing,  her  temper  amiable,  and  her  heart  kind ;  she 
delighted  in  relieving  the  wants  of  her  fellow  crea- 
fcurcs,  and  cultivated  that  divine  pleasure  by  the  most 


332  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

liberal  arid  unpretending  methods;  to  the  poor  she  was 
a  benefactor,  to  the  rich  an  example ;  to  the  wretched 
a  comforter,  to  the  prosperous  an  ornament ;  her  piety 
wrent  hand  in  hand  with  her  benevolence,  and  she 
thanked  her  Creator  for  being  permitted  to  do  good. 
A  being  so  gentle,  and  yet  so  virtuous,  slander  might 
wound  but  could  not  dishonor.  Even  death,  when  he 
tore  her  from  the  arms  of  her  husband,  could  but 
transport  her  to  the  bosom  of  her  God.1' 

Here  in  the  freshness  and  greenness  of  the  garden 
they  planted,  surrounded  with  clambering  vines  and 
fragrant  blooms,  the  General  and  his  beloved  wife 
sleep  their  last  sweet  sleep.  Across  a  garden-path,  lie 
the  remains  of  Mr.  Earl,  the  artist,  "  friend  and  com- 
panion of  General  Andrew  Jackson."  Beside  him  lies 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  adopted  son  of  the  General ;  and 
near  are  two  of  his  infant  sons,  and  a  grown  son, 
Samuel,  who  fell  in  battle. 

General  Jackson  survived  his  wife  more  than  six- 
teen years,  and,  unto  the  end,  his  love  for  her  burned 
as  brightly  as  in  the  hey-day  of  his  youth.  Though 
aged  and  suffering  greatly,  he  was  remarkably  ener- 
getic and  kept  up  his  correspondence  with  his  old  and 
dear  friends.  The  last  letter  that  he  ever  wrrote,  only 
two  days  before  his  death,  was  addressed  to  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Polk,  President  of  the  United  States,  expressing 
confidence  in  his  judgment  and  ability  to  guard  well 
and  truly  the  interests  of  his  country. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  833 


MRS.  DONELSON. 

Mrs.  Emily  Doxelsox,  the  accomplished  mistress  of 
the  White  House  during  General  Jackson's  presiden- 
tial term,  was  the  youngest  child  of  Captain  John 
Donelson,  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  irreproacha- 
ble character,  perfect  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  respect- 
ed as  a  citizen,  honored  as  a  Christian,  and  beloved  as 
a  friend  and  neighbor.  She  was  born  in  Davidson 
County,  Tennessee,  and  educated  at  the  Old  Academy, 
in  Nashville.  Of  rare  personal  loveliness  and  superior 
intellect,  no  expense  or  care  was  spared  to  fit  her  for 
the  high  position  she  was  destined  to  fill  in  society. 
Though  her  childhood  was  spent  in  what  was  then 
called  the  "  backwoods,"  it  was  not  passed  in  obscurity, 
for  her  close  relationship  with  Mrs.  Jackson,  the  pub- 
lic prominence  of  her  near  relations,  Generals  Smith, 
Coffee  and  Hays,  and  the  great  wealth  and  high  stand- 
ing of  her  father,  early  made  her  familiar  with  camps 
and  crowds,  and  developed  that  courtly  grace  aud  ease 
of  manner  for  which  she  was  afterward  so  preeminent. 
A  host  of  suitors  contended  for  the  beautiful  maiden's 
hand,  among  whom  were  General  Sam  Houston,  Col. 
Ephraim  H.  Foster,  and  Major  Gustavus  A.  Henry ; 
they  always  spoke  of  her  as  the  "  lovely  Emily,"  and 
delighted  in  expatiating  on  the  charms  of  her  mind 
and  person. 

At  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  she  was  married  to  her 
cousin,  Major  Andrew  J.  Donelson,  the  protege  and 
confidential  adviser  of  General  Jackson.    She  was  ever 


334  LADIES    OP   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

a  fond  and  faithful  wife,  sharing  the  joys  and  triumphs 
of  her  husband,  relieving  his  cares  and  sorrows,  and 
filling  his  home  with  peace  and  comfort,  and  his  heart 
with  light  and  happiness. 

On  General  Jackson's  election  to  the  presidency, 
he  appointed  Major  Donelson  his  private  Secretary, 
and  invited  Mrs.  Donelson  to  officiate  as  mistress  of 
ceremonies  at  the  White  House. 

To  settle  a  delicate  question  of  j)recedence  between 
Mrs.  Jackson,  jr.  and  Mrs.  Donelson,  who  were  both 
inmates  of  the  President's  House  and  nieces  of  General 
Jackson,  he  said  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  "  you,  my  dear,  are 
mistress  of  the  Hermitage,  and  Emily  is  hostess  of  the' 
White  House."  Both  were  satisfied  with  this  deci- 
sion, and  ever  afterward  Mrs.  Donelson  occupied  the 
first  position  in  the  President's  Mansion.  This  was  a 
position  that  the  elegance  and  refinement  of  Mrs. 
Washington  and  Mrs.  Madison  had  invested  with 
great  respect ;  and  Mrs.  Donelson  filled  it  as  they  had 
done,  ever  mindful  of  her  dignity  as  a  lady,  and  true  to 
her  duty  as  a  wife  and  mother.  In  all  that  is  lovely 
and  noble  in  woman,  she  was  the  peer  of  her  illustri- 
ous predecessors ;  and  her  tact  and  grace  contributed 
much  to  render  General  Jackson's  term  such  a  brilliant 
epoch  in  American  history.  It  was  a  day  of  fierce 
party  spirit ;  political  animosity  spared  neither  sex  nor 
condition,  yet  the  voice  of  detraction  was  never  raised 
against  her  honored  name.  Friend  and  foe  alike  paid 
homage  to  her  charms. 

Mrs.  Donelson  was  of  medium  height,  with  dark 
auburn  hair,  dark  brown  eyes,  fair  complexion,  lips 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  335 

and  brow  exquisitely  moulded,  slender  symmetrical 
figure,  and  hands  and  feet  tiny  as  a  child's.  Her  por- 
trait bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  pictures  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  jSTo  stranger  ever  passes  it 
without  commenting  on  its  singular  fascination. 
Young,  fond  of  society  and  pleased  with  attention,  she 
entered  with  zest  into  the  festivities  of  Washington, 
and  participated  in  all  its  gayeties.  Her  taste  in  dress 
was  exquisite,  and  her  toilette  was  the  envy  and  ad- 
miration of  fashionable  circles.  The  dress  she  wore  at 
the  first  inauguration, an  amber-colored  satin,  brocaded 
with  bouquets  of  rose-buds  and  violets,  and  richly 
trimmed  with  white  lace  and  pearls,  was  a  j:>resent 
from  the  General,  and  was  described  in  every  paper  of 
the  Union.  It  is  still  preserved  in  the  family,  and  even 
in  this  day  of  costly  attire,  would  be  a  gala  dress. 
Beloved  as  a  daughter  by  31rs.  Jackson,  and  intimately 
associated  with  her  for  years,  she  was  beside  that  hon- 
ored and  dear  friend  at  the  time  of  her  death ;  and  her 
tenderness  and  sympathy  did  much  to  mitigate  the 
poignancy  of  the  General's  bereavement.  He  always 
called  her  "  my  daughter ; "  and  often  when  wearied 
with  the  cares  of  ofhce,  would  seek  relaxation  amid  her 
family  circle.  Arbiter  in  politics,  he  deferred  all  mat- 
ters of  etiquette  to  her;  and  when  she  would  appeal 
to  him  to  settle  any  knotty  social  point,  he  would  re- 
ply, "  you  know  best,  my  dear.  Do  as  you  please."  Of 
lively  imagination,  she  was  quick  at  repartee,  and  had 
that  gift  possessed  by  so  few  talkers,  of  listening  grace- 
fully. Thrown  in  contact  with  the  brightest  and  most 
cultivated  intellects  of  the  day,  she  sustained  her  part ; 


836  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  her  favor  was  eagerly  sought  by  the  learned  and 
polished.  A  foreign  minister  once  said  to  her,  "  Mad- 
am, yon  dance  with  the  grace  of  a  Parisian.  I  can 
hardly  realize  you  were  educated  in  Tennessee." 
"  Count,  you  forget,"  was  the  spirited  reply,  "  that 
grace  is  a  cosmopolite,  and  like  a  wild  flower,  is  much 
oftener  found  in  the  woods  than  in  the  streets  of  a 
city." 

During  the  Eaton  controversy,  the  public  was  curi- 
ous to  see  what  course  she  would  take.  Her  friends 
were  also  Mrs.  Eaton's  friends,  it  was  her  policy  to 
please  General  Jackson,  and  General  Jackson's  heart 
was  set  on  Mrs.  Eaton's  social  recognition,  yet  Mrs. 
Donelson  was  a  woman  who,  dearly  as  she  loved  pow- 
er, loved  honor  more.  Of  kind  and  tender  sensibili- 
ties, her  heart  and  hand  were  ever  ready  to  respond  to 
the  calls  of  the  jjoor  and  suffering,  but  she  had  no 
patience  with  the  shameless  and  presuming,  and  could 
tolerate  no  association  with  a  woman  who  could  take 
such  liberties  with  her  marriage  vow.  At  the  public 
receptions  and  levees,  she  received  Mrs.  Eaton  with  her 
usual  dignity  and  courtesy;  but  when  the  General 
asked  her  to  visit  that  lady,  and  set  the  example  of 
public  recognition  of  his  favorite,  she  refused  decidedly, 
saying,  "  Uncle,  I  will  do  anything  on  earth  for  you, 
consistent  with  my  dignity  as  a  lady,  but  I  cannot  and 
will  not  visit  any  one  of  Mrs.  Eaton's  reputation." 
She  carried  her  point,  and  honored  be  her  name  for  the 
noble  example  she  set  her  countrywomen. 

Mrs.  Donelson's  four  children  were  all  born  at  the 
AVhite  House,  and  their  earliest  reminiscences  are  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  337 

the  East  Room,  levees,  state  dinners,  and  processions. 
General  Jackson  made  their  christenings  occasions  of 
great  ceremony.  He  was  god-father  of  two  of  them, 
Mr.  Van  Buren  of  another,  and  General  Polk  of  the 
youngest.  General  Jackson  was  very  fond  of  these 
little  ones,  and  took  a  grandfather's  interest  in  all  their 
plays  and  games.  The  White  House  has  probably 
never  had  a  more  charming  tableau  than  that  present- 
ed by  the  old  hero,  surrounded  by  the  lovely  family 
group,  of  which  he  was  the  soul  and  idol.  Of  Mrs. 
Donelson's  children,  only  her  two  daughters  are  now 
living.  Her  two  sons  passed  away  in  the  spring-time 
of  life.  They  were  young  men  of  great  promise,  supe- 
rior intellect,  and  high  social  standing.  Andrew,  the 
eldest,  was  captain  of  engineers  in  the  United  States 
army,  and  died  of  consumption  in  1859/  John  was 
captain  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  fell  in  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  righting  bravely  in  defence  of  the  soil 
and  cause  he  loved. 

In  the  spring  of  1836,  Mrs.  Donelson's  health  be- 
came so  delicate  that  she  concluded  to  leave  Washing- 
ton, and  go  home  to  Tennessee ;  hoping,  in  the  quiet 
and  seclusion  of  her  beautiful  home  (Tulip  Grove), 
soon  to  regain  her  health  and  strength.  But  her 
symptoms  grew  more  alarming,  and  it  soon  became 
evident  that  consumption  had  marked  her  for  its  vic- 
tim. The  scene  changes  now  from  the  gay  festivities 
of  Washington  to  the  loneliness  and  suffering  of  the 
sick  room.  The  hectic  flush  and  wasting  form  marked 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  insidious  disease,  and 
thoughts  of  death  became  familiar.  Though  so  young 
22 


333  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  gay,  she  bore  her  suffering  with  the  patience  and 
fortitude  of  an  angel,  and  submitted  without  a  mur- 
mur to  the  decree  that  tore  her  away  from  husband, 
children,  and  friends.  Shortly  before  her  death,  she 
made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  and  connected 
herself  with  the  Presbyterian  church.  Every  resource 
of  medical  skill  and  experience  was  tried  to  stay  the 
course  of  her  disease,  but  in  vain ;  and  in  December 
her  spirit  passed  from  earth.  Her  death  was  as  peace- 
ful and  hopeful  as  her  life  had  been  loving  and  happy. 
Always  a  fond  and  proud  mother,  as  the  time  drew 
near  for  a  final  separation  from  her  children,  she  clung 
to  them  with  a  tenderness  and  devotion  touching  to 
behold.  A  few  evenings  before  her  death,  she  was 
sitting  at  an  open  window,  admiring  the  beauty  of  a 
winter  sunset,  when  a  bird  entered,  and  flying  several 
times  around  the  room,  alighted  on  her  chair.  One  of 
her  little  children,  playing  by  her  side,  made  some 
exclamation  and  tried  to  catch  it.  "  Don't  disturb  it, 
darling,"'  said  the  dying  mother,  "  maybe  it  comes  to 
bid  me  prepare  for  my  flight  to  another  world.  I 
leave  you  here,  but  the  Heavenly  Father,  who  shelters 
and  provides  for  this  poor  little  bird  this  wintry  day, 
will  also  watch  over  and  take  care  of  you  all  when  I 
am  gone.  Don't  forget  mamma ;  love  her  always,  and 
try  to  live  so  that  we  may  all  meet  again  in  heaven." 
Ere  the  week  closed,  her  chair  was  vacant ;  earth  had 
lost  one  of  its  noblest,  purest  spirits,  but  heaven  had 
gained  an  angel. 

"Lovely,  bright,  youthful,  chaste  as  morning  dew, 
She  sparkled,  was  exhaled,  and  -went  to  heaven." 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  339 


MRS.  ANDREW  JACKSON,  Je. 

The  wife  of  President  Jackson's  foster-son  was  the 
daughter  of  Peter  Yorke  of  Philadelphia,  whose  grand- 
father, Judge  Yorke,  held  an  appointment  under  the 
crown  of  Great  Britain  prior  to  the  Revolution.  She 
was  educated  in  that  city,  and  received  all  the  accom- 
plishments a  mind  of  superior  order  under  similar  for- 
tunate circumstances  would  be  capable  of  appreciating. 
Left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  her  affections  were 
concentrated  upon  those  nearest  of  kin  to  her,  and 
well  and  nobly  has  she  fulfilled  all  the  requirements 
of  sisterly  love.  A  large  circle  of  friends  and  rela 
tives  rendered  her  young  life  happy  by  their  sympathy 
and  affection,  and  her  youth  is  remembered  as  a  scene 
of  varied  though  ceaseless  pleasures. 

Miss  Yorke  was  married  to  Mr.  Jackson  soon  after 
the  iuaug-uration  of  his  adopted  father,  and  made  her 
entree  at  the  White  House  as  a  bride.  Necessarily 
the  object  of  remark  and  criticism,  which  has  not  gen- 
erally a  tendency  to  promote  ease  of  manner,  she  yet 
managed  to  win  sincere  admiration  from  all  who  came 
in  contact  with  her.  Seldom  has  any  one  in  so  conspicu- 
ous a  position  exhibited  so  much  of  the  perfect  self- 
possession  which  distinguishes  the  lady  "  to  the  manor 
born."  She  combined  the  opposite  qualities  of  dignity 
and  affability,  and  secured  thereby  a  lasting  influ- 
ence over  those  with  whom  she  was  associated.    Blend- 


340  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ing  a  quick  temper  and  high  spirits,  with  much  kindli- 
ness of  heart  she  was,  as  is  often  the  case  with  such 
natures,  generous  and  forbearing  toward  loved  ones, — 
determined  and  unyielding  where  her  rights  were  in- 
vaded. Her  affection  for  her  father-in-law  was  intense, 
and  he  often  testified  his  love  for  her. 

On  one  occasion,  when  receiving  a  deputation  from 
the  Keystone  State,  he  remarked  to  them,  "  Gentle- 
men, I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  for  I  am  much  indebt- 
ed to  Pennsylvania.  She  has  given  me  a  daughter 
who  is  a  great  comfort  to  her  father." 

The  tone  and  impressive  manner  convinced  his 
hearers  of  the  entire  truth  of  his  remark,  while  the 
look  of  affectionate  pride  bestowed  upon  her  filled  her 
heart  with  happiness. 

At  the  "White  House,  she  shared  the  honors  of  host- 
ess with  her  kinswoman  Mrs.  Donelson,  whose  superior 
charms  were  gracefully  acknowledged  by  Mrs.  Jack- 
son, and  acted  in  accordance  with  the  President's  sug- 
gestion to  remain  as  the  mistress  of  his  own  home. 

During  the  long  period  of  ill  health  which  accom- 
panied the  declining  years  of  General  Jackson,  his 
daughter  ministered  to  him  as  a  loving  woman  only  can. 
Never  for  a  moment  was  her  watchful  care  withdrawn, 
but  leaving  all  other  duties,  she  fulfilled  her  mission  well. 

The  crowds  of  company  which  flocked  to  the  Her- 
mitage were  always  smilingly  received  by  her,  and  her 
name  was  dear  to  all  who  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of 
the  home  of  old  Hickory.  After  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Donelson  and  the  failing  health  of  her  father,  her  task 
was  one  of  severity,  but  the  method  and  order  ■  which 


LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  341 

reigned  in  and  about  her  home — the  attention  she  be- 
stowed upon  her  children,  and  the  manner  in  which 
she  cared  for  the  dependent  ones  about  her,  attest  her 
strong  Christian  character  and  convince  us  that  her 
success  was  entire.  Hospitality  at  the  Hermitage  was 
taxed  in  a  scarcely  less  degree  than  Monticello  had 
once  been,  and  for  many  years  Mrs.  Jackson  received 
the  world's  votaries  at  the  shrine  of  greatness. 

In  the  constant  whirlpool  of  society  she  never  neg- 
lected the  nursery,  nor  did  her  distinguished  guests 
ever  discover  in  her  conduct  the  uneasiness  she  often 
silently  endured. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  there  was  a  never  ceasing 
demand  on  her  time  and  brain  for  the  welfare  of  her 
numerous  dependents.  She  was  a  true  friend  to  the 
slaves  of  the  family,  and  the  many  helpless  ones  al- 
ways seen  on  a  large  plantation  were  her  special  prop- 
erty. The  wants  of  the  sick,  the  control  of  the 
young  and  the  management  of  all,  was  a  task  only  ap- 
preciated by  those  accustomed  to  an  institution  now 
extinct.  On  Sabbath  evenings,  for  many  years,  it  was 
her  habit  to  have  all  who  would  choose  to  gather 
around,  to  hear  her  read  of  eternal  life,  and  to  in- 
struct the  children  in  religious  duties. 

Called  to  pass  through  great  afflictions — to  part 
with  father  and  husband,  and  later  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  a  son  in  his  early  manhood,  whose  life  was  just  bud- 
ding into  promise  of  future  usefulness,  her  sorrows  rest 
now  in  her  declining  years  heavily  upon  her.  Her 
grief  is  sacred. 

During  the  civil  war.   whose   earliest  tocsin  was 


342  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

sounded  near  her,  and  whose  dying  echoes  reverberated 
alone  the  banks  of  the  Cumberland,  she  remained  in 
the  lonely  home  of  her  happier  youth,  amid  scenes 
which  continually  recall  the  unreturning  past.  In  the 
quiet  of  a  winters  night,  or  even  amid  the  beauty  of 
a  midsummer's  day,  she  looks  upon  the  tomb  in  the 
garden,  and  hallowed  recollections  fill  her  heart. 
Through  the  triumphs  of  life  she  has  passed,  and  now 
in  the  eventide  sits  beside  her  graves. 

Now,  as  in  early  youth,  she  evinces  her  submission 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  the  little  church  adjoining  the 
Hermitasre  is  as  sacred  to  her  as  it  was  dear  to  her 
adopted  mother. 

In  her  present  retirement  with  her  children,  of 
whom  two  remain  to  bless  her  evening  of  life,  and 
grandchildren  to  cheer  her  with  their  innocent  gaiety, 
let  us  hope  that  further  trials  may  be  spared  her,  and 
that  even  to  the  end  she  may  enjoy  the  sweet  security  of 
a  promise  made  to  those  like  her,  who  have  finished 
their  course,  and  are  called  to  enter  into  the  joys  of 
their  Lord. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  343 


MRS.    MARTIN   VAN  BUREN. 

TnE  wife  of  President  Van  Buren  was  born  at 
Kinderkook,  on  the  Hudson,  in  the  year  1782,  a  few 
months  after  the  birth  of  her  future  husband,  whose1 
schoolmate  and  companion  she  was  during  their  early- 
years.  She  was  of  Dutch  descent,  and  the  original 
name  Goes  but  pronounced  by  her  ancestors  Hoes,  and 
since  so  called  by  all  the  members  of  the  family  in 
this  country,  is  familiar  to  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  Netherlands. 

If  the  charms  of  nature — grand  scenery,  magnifi- 
cent views,  and  the  ever-varying  harmony  of  beautiful 
skies — could  add  to  the  growth  and  development  of 
childhood,  Hannah  Hoes  was  incomparably  blest. 
The  years  of  her  life  were  spent  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  in  the  most  beautiful  section  of  her  native 
State — a  State  remarkable  for  the  grandeur  of  its  moun- 
tain scenery,  and  the  number  of  its  romantic  rivers. 
Chief  among  these,  and  surpassed  by  none  in  the  world, 
is  the  Hudson,  in  sight  of  whose  classic  waters  she 
lived  and  died. 

Her  ancestors  were  sturdy,  enterprising  Dutch, 
whose  homes  for  many  generations  had  been  along  the 
banks  of  the  stream  discovered  by  their  renowned 
countryman,  and  not  one  of  the  rosy  urchins  of  their 
households  but  knew  of  the  adventures  of  Hendrick 
Hudson,  and  reverenced  him  not  only  as  the  hero  of 


344  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

their  race  and  the  discoverer  of  their  river,  but  the 
founder  of  their  prosperity.  Nor  could  the  tales  of 
the  old  dames  who  resided  nearest  the  lofty  Catskills 
— that  he  and  his  followers  still  haunted  the  mountains 
and  were  the  direct  cause  of  calamities — divest  their 
minds  of  his  wondrous  exploits.  In  each  ripple  of  the 
dancing  waves,  in  the  denseness  of  the  srev  fo£,  or 
perchance  in  the  quiet  stillness  of  eventide,  they  re- 
cognized some  similarity,  and  recalled  a  parallel  of  his 
experiences. 

Mid  such  scenes  and  under  such  influences  passed 
all  the  years  of  Mrs.  Van  Buren's  life. 

In  February,  1807,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  she 
was  married  to  Mr.  Van  Buren.  The  intimacy  which 
resulted  in  this  union  was  formed  in  early  childhood, 
and  was  consummated  as  soon  as  his  position  at 
the  bar  would  justify  his  taking  such  a  step.  The 
steadfastness  of  his  attachment  to  his  young  relative 
was  a  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  and  adds  a  lustre  to  his  unsullied  name. 

Some  time  after  their  marriage  they  removed  to 
Hudson  City,  where  eight  years  of  wedded  life  passed 
fleetly  away,  they  losing,  in  the  meantime,  the  young- 
est of  their  four  sons,  an  infant  only  a  few  weeks 
old.  In  1816,  Mr.  Van  Buren  removed  his  family  to 
Albany,  drawn  thither,  doubtless,  by  his  increased  and 
increasing  professional  standing  and  political  leader- 
ship. 

From  this  time  forth,  the  highest  wishes  of  his 
early  life  were  crowned  with  complete  fruition. 
Wealth,  fame  and  influence  were  the  fruits  of  his  un- 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         345 

remitted  industry  for  nearly  twenty  years.  "  His 
natural  talents  had  reached  their  full  expansion ;  his 
laborious  industry  exhibited  its  proper  results;  and 
amid  a  constellation  of  great  minds,  whose  brilliant 
efforts  erected  and  adorned  the  fabric  of  New  York 
jurisprudence,  the  vigor  of  his  intellect  and  the  rich- 
ness of  his  learning  won  for  him  a  conspicuous  and  ac- 
knowledged eminence." 

But  the  voice  of  adulation  fell  upon  unheeding  ears 
when  sickness  invaded  the  household  and  hastened  the 
cherished  wife  and  mother  from  her  loved  ones.  Not 
even  the  ardent  devotion,  the  deathless  affection  of  the 
husband  whose  efforts  in  life  had  all  been  made  for  her, 
could  stay  the  destroyer  in  his  cruel  work.  For 
months  she  lay  an  invalid,  tended  by  those  who  loved 
her  more  than  life,  and  then  sank  into  the  grave  a  vic- 
tim of  consumption. 

A  gentleman  of  high  distinction,  who  knew  her 
intimately  from  her  earliest  years,  said,  "  there  never 
was  a  woman  of  a  purer  and  kinder  heart."  Gentle 
and  winning  in  life,  her  memory  is  redolent  with  the 
perfume  of  her  saintly  sweetness  and  purity.  From 
this  point  I  quote  the  words  of  Miss  Cantine,  the 
niece  of  Mrs.  Van  Buren,  wdio  was  but  sixteen  years 
of  as;e  at  the  time  of  her  aunt's  death.  "  Aunt  Han- 
nah  lived  but  a  short  time  after  their  removal  to  Al- 
bany, dying  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five,  when  her 
youngest  child  was  still  an  infant.  I  can  recall  but 
little  about  her  till  her  last  sickness  and  death,  except 
the  general  impression  I  have  of  her  modest,  even 
timid  manner — her  shrinking  from  observation,  and 


346  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

her  loving,  gentle  disposition.  The  last,  long  sicknes3 
(she  was  confined  to  the  house  for  six  months)  and  her 
death  are  deeply  engraved  on  my  memory.  When 
told  by  her  physicians  that  she  could  live,  in  all  pro- 
bability, but  a  few  days  longer,  she  called  her  children 
to  her  and  gave  them  her  dying  counsel  and  blessing, 
and  with  the  utmost  composure  bade  them  farewell 
and  committed  them  to  the  care  of  the  Saviour  she 
loved,  and  in  whom  she  trusted. 

"  This  scene  was  the  more  remarkable  to  those  who 
witnessed  it,  as,  through  the  most  of  her  sickness,  she 
had  been  extremely  nervous,  being  only  able  to  see 
her  children  for  a  few  moments  on  those  days  on  which 
she  was  most  comfortable.  They  could  only  go  to 
her  bedside  to  kiss  her,  and  then  be  taken  away.  As 
an  evidence  of  her  perfect  composure  in  view  of  death, 
I  will  mention  this  fact.  It  was  customary  in  that 
day,  at  least  it  was  the  custom  in  the  city  of  Albany, 
for  the  bearers  to  wear  scarfs  which  were  provided  by 
the  family  of  the  deceased.  Aunt  requested  that  this 
might  be  omitted  at  her  burial,  and  that  the  amount 
of  the  cost  of  such  a  custom  should  be  given  to  the 
poor.     Her  wishes  were  entirely  carried  out."' 

The  following  obituary  notice  is  in  itself  a  sketch 
of  the  character  of  Mrs.  Van  Buren,  and  was  written 
by  one  who  knew  her  better  than  any  one  out  of  her 
own  family. 

From  the  Albany  Argus,  Feb.  8th,  1819. 

"Died  in  this  city,  on  the  evening  of  Friday  the 
5th  inst.,  after  a  lingering  illness,  Mrs.  Hannah  Van 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  347 

Buren,  wife  of  the  Hon.  Martin  Van  Buren,  in  the  36th 
year  of  her  age.     The  death  of  this  amiable  and  excel- 
lent woman  is  severely  felt  by  a  numerous  circle  of 
relatives  and  friends.    As  a  daughter  and  a  sister,  wife 
and  mother,  her  loss  is  deeply  deplored,  for  in  all  these 
various  relations  she  was  affectionate,  tender,  and  truly 
estimable.     But  the  tear  of  sorrow  is  almost  dried  by 
the  reflection  that  she  lived  the  life,  and  died  the  death, 
of  the  righteous.     Modest  and  unassuming,  possessing 
the  most  engaging  simplicity  of  manners,  her  heart 
was  the  residence  of  every  kind  affection,  and  glowed 
with  sympathy  for  the  wants  and  sufferings  of  others. 
Her  temper  was  uncommonly  mild    and  sweet,  her 
bosom  was  filled  with  benevolence  and  content — no 
love  of  show,  no  ambitious  desires,  no  pride  of  osten- 
tation ever  disturbed  its  peace.     When  her  attention 
was  directed,  some  years  before  her  death,  to  the  im- 
portant concerns  of  religion  and  salvation,  she  presented 
to  the  gospel  she  embraced  a  rich  soil  for  the  growth 
and  cultivation  of  every  Christian  principle.  Humility 
was  her  crowning  grace,  she  possessed  it  in  a  rare  de- 
gree ;  it  took  deep  root  and  flourished  full  and  fair, 
shedding  over  every  action  of  her  life  its  genial  influence. 
She  was  an  ornament  of  the  Christian  faith,  exemplify- 
ing in  her  life  the  duty  it  enjoins,  and  experiencing,  in 
a  good  degree,  its  heavenly  joys,  its  cheering  hopes. 
In  her  last  illness  she  was  patient  and  resigned.     In 
the  midst  of  life,  with  all  that  could  make  it  worth 
possessing — esteemed  and  loved,  happy  in  her  family 
and  friends — she  was  forced  away.     But  she  left  all 
without  a  sigh.    She  waited  the  approach  of  death  with 


348  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

calmness — her  Kedeeiner  had  robbed  it  of  its  sting  and 
made  it  a  welcome  messenger.  Doubtless,  '  'twas  gain 
for  her  to  die.'  Doubtless,  she  is  now  enjoying  that 
rest '  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.'  Pre- 
cious shall  be  the  memory  of  her  virtues, 

"  Sweet  the  savor  of  her  name, 
And  soft  her  sleeping  hed." 


^sC 


f£~s£~ 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  349 


MRS.  ABRAM  VAX  BUREX. 

The  era  in  which  Mrs.  Martin  Van  Buren  lived; 
was  so  far  removed  from  her  husband's  ascension  to 
the  Presidency,  that  her  life  is  of  but  little  interest  in 
connection  with  this  period.  She  had  been  dead  sev- 
enteen years,  when,  in  1837,  he  took  possession  of  the 
White  House. 

But  for  the  presence  of  his  accomplished  daughter- 
in-law,  his  administration  would  have  been  socially  a 
failure  ;  the  prestige  of  his  high  position  was  not  com- 
plete until  the  honors  were  shared  with  his  young  rel- 
ative. 

Angelica  Singleton,  the  daughter  of  Richard  Sin- 
gleton, Esq.,  was  born  in  Sumpter  District,  South 
Carolina.  Her  grandfather,  Singleton,  and  her 
great-grandfather  General  Richardson,  served  with 
distinction  in  the  revolutionary  war.  On  the  ma- 
ternal side,  her  grandfather,  John  Coles,  Esq.,  of 
Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  was  the  intimate  and 
valued  friend  of  Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison, 
and  two  of  his  sons  were  respectively  their  private 
secretaries  during  their  Presidential  terms. 

Miss  Singletons  early  advantages  were  in  keeping 
with  her  elevated  social  position.  To  complete  an  ed- 
ucation superior  to  the  generality  of  her  sex  at  that 
day,  she  spent  several  years  at  Madame  Grelaud's  sem- 
inary, in  Philadelphia.     The  winter  previous  to  her 


350  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

marriage,  she  passed  in  Washington,  in  the  family  of 
her  kinsman,  Senator  William  C.  Preston.  Soon  after 
her  arrival,  her  cousin,  the  justly  celebrated  Mrs.  Madi- 
son, procured  the  appointment  of  a  day  to  present  her 
to  the  President,  accompanied  also  by  Senator  Pres- 
ton's family.  Her  reception  was  a  very  flattering  one, 
and  she  became  a  great  favorite  with  President  Van 
Buren.  In  November  of  the  year  following  (1838), 
she  was  married  at  her  father's  residence,  to  Colonel, 
then  Major,  Van  Buren,  the  President's  eldest  son,  and 
his  private  secretary — a  graduate  of  West  Point  and 
long  an  officer  in  the  army.  Her  first  appearance  as 
the  lady  of  the  White  House  was  on  the  following 
New  Years  day,  when,  supported  by  the  ladies  of  the 
cabinet,  she  received  with  the  President. 

The  following  brief,  though  favorable  cotemporan- 
eous  notice  of  that  occasion  is  taken  from  a  lon^  and 
racy  account  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Post, 
of  the  movements  at  the  capital  on  New  Year's  day: — 

"The  Executive  Mansion  was  a  place  of  much 
more  than  usual  attraction  in  consequence  of  the  first 
appearance  there  of  the  bride  of  the  President's  son 
and  private  secretary,  Mrs.  Abram  Van  Buren.  She 
is  represented  as  being  a  lady  of  rare  accomplishments, 
very  modest,  yet  perfectly  easy  and  graceful  in  her 
manners,  and  free  and  vivacious  in  her  conversation. 
She  was  universally  admired  a"nd  is  said  to  have  borne 
the  fatigue  of  a  three  hours'  levee  with  a  patience  and 
pleasantry  which  must  be  inexhaustible  to  last  one 
through  so  severe  a  trial.  A  constant  current  set  from 
the  President's  house  to  the  modest  mansion  of  the 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  351 

much  respected  lady  of  ex- President  Madison.  Ex- 
President  Adams  and  his  lady  were  also  cordially 
greeted  at  their  residence  by  a  number  of  friends." 

Mrs.  Van  Buren  is  the  only  daughter  of  South 
Carolina  who  has  graced  the  White  House  as  hostess, 
and  her  life  there  was  rendered  as  entirely  agreeable 
as  the  combined  influences  of  wealth,  station,  and  re- 
finement  could  make  it.  The  reminiscences  of  her 
early  life  carry  us  back  to  a  period  when  South  Caro- 
lina enjoyed  the  distinction  of  sharing  with  Virginia 
the  honor  of  being  the  seat  of  elegant  hospitality  and 
refined  culture.  Under  the  benign  influences  of  a 
matchless  climate  and  great  wealth,  the  people  of  the 
Palmetto  State  enjoyed  the  leisure  and  opportunity  of 
developing  all  those  characteristics  which  adorn  hu- 
manity and  render  life  attractive.  The  citizens  of  this 
state  were  fortunate  in  beinsr  the  descendants  of  the 
best  families  of  Virginia,  and  Mrs.  Van  Buren  is  a 
most  pleasing  representation  of  this  old  aristocracy. 

The  degradation  of  the  manners  and  morals  of  the 
country,  infecting  as  it  does  every  part  of  our  national 
character,  which  we  know  has  undermined  the  aristo- 
cratic tendencies  of  southern  society,  but  renders  the 
contemplation  of  a  representative  of  the  past  all  the 
more  pleasing,  and  in  the  subject  of  our  sketch  we 
have  the  purest  type  of  a  class  once  powerful,  now 
rapidly  becoming  extinct. 

The  position  of  Mrs,  Van  Buren's  family  was  al- 
ways such  that  all  the  avenues  of  intellectual  enjoy- 
ment were  open  to  her,  while  her  natural  endowments 
wrere  of  that  high  order  which  rendered   cultivation 


352  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

rapid  and  pleasant.  Added  to  her  many  gifts,  was  the 
irresistible  one  of  beauty  of  form  and  deportment.  The 
engraving,  from  a  portrait  by  "  Inman,"  painted  soon 
after  the  time  of  which  I  write,  represents  the  exceed- 
ing loveliness  of  her  charming  person.  More  potent 
than  mere  regularity  of  features  is  the  gentle  winning 
expression  of  her  clear  black  eyes ;  and  the  smile  about 
her  finely  chiselled  lips  betokens  the  proud  serenity  of 
her  most  fortunate  life. 

Mrs.  Van  Buren  was,  on  her  mother's  side,  de- 
scended from  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  and  the  genealog- 
ical tables  of  the  family  discover  many  of  the  leading 
names  of  American  politicians  and  statesmen.  Aside 
from  mere  wealth,  they  possessed  abilities  which,  in 
many  instances,  secured  them  the  highest  position 
in  the  gift  of  their  government.  Prominent  among 
these  was  her  uncle,  Mr.  Stevenson,  minister  to  Eng- 
land. In  the  spring  of  1839,  Colonel  aud  Mrs.  Van 
Buren  made  a  rapid  visit  to  Europe,  returning  at 
the  request  of  the  President  in  the  following  fall  in 
time  for  the  session  of  Congress.  While  abroad,  they 
enjoyed  the  most  unusual  social  advantages,  being 
members  of  the  President's  family,  and  she  a  niece  of 
the  American  ambassador,  who  had  been  a  resident  of 
London  several  years.  They  were  in  London  during 
the  whole  of  the  "  season  "  of  the  year  following  the 
queen's  coronation,  which  derived  especial  brilliancy 
from  the  presence  of  the  present  Emperor  of  Russia, 
Prince  Henry  of  Orange,  and  other  foreigners  of  note. 

No  American  lady  has  ever  visited  Europe  under 
similar  circumstances.     Nor  has  any  of  her  country- 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  353 

women  made  a  more  lasting  impression  than  did  this 
young  representative  of  the  President's  family.  By 
her  cultivated,  unassuming  manners  she  made  herself 
most  agreeable  to  the  court  circles  of  England,  and 
maintained  in  the  saloons  of  royalty  the  simplicity  and 
dignity  of  her  republican  education. 

Mrs.  Stevenson  was  the  chaperon  of  Mrs.  Van 
Buren  on  all  public  occasions,  and  the  recollections  of 
evenings  spent  with  her  at  "  Almack's,"  at  the"  Palace, 
and  in  the  society  of  the  cultured  and  noble,  will  al- 
ways gladden  the  heart  of  the  niece  who  survives  her. 

Major  Van  Buren's  position  as  private  secretary 
rendered  their  unexampled  and  most  fortunate  visit  to 
England  of  short  duration.  To  reach  America  before 
the  meeting  of  Congress,  they  left  London  for  the 
continent.  In  the  course  of  their  hurried  tour,  they 
passed  some  weeks  in  Paris,  and  were  presented  by 
the  American  minister,  General  Cass,  to  the  king  and 
queen.  They  were  invited  to  dine  at  St.  Cloud,  and 
were  received  with  the  kind  unceremonious  manner 
which,  it  is  well  known,  distinguished  all  the  members 
of  that  branch  of  the  Orleans  family.  After  dinner, 
Louis  Philippe  conducted  them  through  the  rooms  of 
the  Palace,  even  to  the  door  of  the  sleeping-apart- 
ment, as  he  supposed,  of  his  grandson,  the  Comte  de 
Paris,  at  which  he  knocked  without  obtaining  any  re- 
sponse. The  queen,  having  been  told  by  Mrs.  Van 
Buren  on  her  return  of  what  had  happened,  said, 
laughingly,  "  Ah !  that  is  all  the  king  knows  about  it ! 
After  his  mother  left  with  the  Due  D'Orleans  for  Al- 
giers, I  caused  the  child  to  be  removed  to  a  room 
23 


354  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

nearer  my  own."  She  then  proposed  to  send  for  him, 
and  for  her  "Wurtemberg  grandchild  also,  but  unfortu- 
nately for  the  gratification  of  her  guest's  natural  curi- 
osity, the  little  princes  were  fast  asleep. 

After  the  expiration  of  President  Van  Buren's 
term  of  office,  "MfS.  Van  Buren  and  her  husband  lived 
with  him  at  Lindenwald  through  several  years  of  his 
retirement,  passing  much  of  the  winter  months  with 
her  parents  in  South  Carolina,  and  in  1S48  establish- 
ing themselves  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  has  since 
been  their  home  uninterruptedly,  except  by  visits  to 
the  South,  rendered  necessary  by  the  death  of  her 
father  and  the  consequent  charge  of  her  patrimonial 
estate,  and  by  a  three  years'  absence  in  Europe,  super- 
intending the  education  of  their  sons. 

The  spring  time  of  her  youth  has  passed,  but  the 
glorious  summer  of  her  womanhood  is  upon  her,  in 
which  she  is  garnering  the  beautiful  fruits  of  wisdom  and 
goodness.  Mrs.  Van  Buren's  entire  existence  has  been 
one  of  prosperity,  but  it  has  not  rendered  her  selfish ; 
it  has  rather,  on  the  contrary,  induced  the  employment 
of  her  gifts  in  behalf  of  others.  To  the  young  of  her 
sex  who  are  aspiring  for  a  pure  and  useful  standard  of 
womanly  womanhood,  we  point  with  just  pride  to  her 
worthy  example.  ~No  fame  is  more  glorious  than  hers, 
insomuch  as  it  encourages  the  development  of  all  that 
is  ennobling  and  beautiful  in  humanity. 

She  has  known  sorrow  in  the  early  death  of  two 
of  her  children ;  and  in  later  years  the  loss  of  relatives 
and  friends  has  cast  a  momentary  gloom  about  her. 
But  her  inner  life  is  too  harmonious  and  serene  to 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  355 

allow  any  trouble  to  crush  her.  In  the  pleasant  re- 
flections of  the  past  and  bright  anticipations  of  the 
future,  she  remains  a  happy  participator  in  the  scenes 
of  the  present,  and  is  a  unique  and  charming  example 
of  a  "noble  woman  nobly  planned." 


356  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


MRS.  WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 

Ansa  Symmes,  the  wife  of  the  ninth.  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  the  famous  year  of  American 
Independence,  and  but  a  few  months  after  the  renown- 
ed  skirmish  at  Lexington.  Her  birth-place  was  near 
Morristown,  New  Jersey,  the  scene  of  suffering  the  fol- 
lowing year,  where  the  tracts  of  the  n  1  1-stained  feet 
of  the  soldiers  attested  their  forlorn  condition.  Soon 
after  her  birth,  which  occured  the  25th  of  July,  1775, 
her  mother  died.  Bereft  of  her  care,  she  was  thrown 
upon  her  father's  hands,  for  these  attentions  necessary 
for  one  of  such  a  tender  age.  which  until  her  fourth 
year  he  carefully  bestowed  Her  maternal  grand- 
parents, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tuthill,  were  residing  at  South- 
hold,  Long  Island,  and  thither  at  the  age  of  four  years 
she  was  taken  by  her  surviving  parent.  The  incidents 
of  her  journey  from  Morristown  to  Long  Island,  then 
in  the  possession  of  the  British,  she  remembered  through 
life.      Her  father,   the   Hon.   John   Clevea   Symmes, 

igh  at  the  time  a  Colonel  in  the  Continental  army, 
was  so  anxious  to  place  his  daughter  with  her  grand- 
mother, that  he  assumed  the  disguise  of  a  British  offi- 
cer's uniform  and  successfully  accomplished  his  perilous 
undertaking.  Leaving  her  in  the  home  from  which  he 
had  taken  her  mother  years  before,  he  joined  his  own 
troops  and  served  \*ith  distinction  during  the  war. 
Not  until  aft  vacnation  of  New  York,  in  the  fall 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  357 

of  1783,  did  the  father  and  child  meet  again,  nor  did 
she  return  to  his  New  Jersey  home.     Under  the  care 
of  her  excellent  grandmother,  she  became  early  imbued 
with  a  love  of  religious  reading,  and  learned  those 
early  habits  of  industry  which  the  young  under  the 
right  influences  early  attain.    Mrs.  Tuthill  was  a  godly 
woman,  whose  soul  had  been  deeply  stirred  by  the 
preaching  of  Whitfield,  whom  she  greatly  reverenced 
and  admired.     From  her  lips  the  little  Anna  received 
her  first  religious  instructions,  the  good  impressions  of 
which  lasted  her  through  life.     She  often  remarked 
that  "  from  her  earliest  childhood,  the  frivolous  amuse- 
ments of  youth  had  no  charms  for  her.'1     "  If  ever  con- 
strained to  attend  places  of  fashionable  amusement,  it 
was  to  gratify  others  and  not  herself."     In  this  early 
home  of  quiet  and  retirement,  she  acquired  habits  of 
order  and  truthfulness  which  characterized  her  conduct 
in  after-years.     Her  hands  even  as  a  child  were  never 
idle,  but  as  a  Christian  virtue  she  was  trained  to  dili- 
gence, prudence,  and  economy.     When  old  enough  to 
attend  school,  she  was  placed  at  a  seminary  in  East 
Hampton,  where  she  remained  some  time,  and  subse- 
quently she  was  a  pupil  of  Mrs.  Isabelle  Graham,  and 
an  inmate  of  her  family  in  New  York  City.     Here  she 
readily  acquired  knowledge,  and  improved  the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  her.     For  her  teacher  she  ever  retain- 
ed the  highest  regard,  and  cherished  the  memory  of 
that  pious   and    exemplary   woman  through  all  the 
changes  of  her  own  life. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  she  bade  adieu  to  her  aged 
grand-parents,  and  accompanied  her  father  and   step- 


358  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

mother  to  Ohio,  in  1 794.  A  year  previous  to  this  time, 
Judge  Symmes  had  located  a  small  colony  of  settlers 
who  had  accompanied  him  from  Xew  Jersey,  at  a  point 
on  the  Ohio  river,  afterward  known  as  Xorth  Bend. 
Returning  to  the  Eastern  States,  he  married  Miss  Susan 
Livingston,  a  daughter  of  Governor  Livingston,  of  New 
York,  and  in  the  autumn  started  again,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  daughter,  for  his  frontier  home.  The 
journey  was  made  with  great  difficulty,  and  the  party 
did  not  reach  Xorth  Bend  until  the  rnorning  of  the 
1st  of  January,  179$.  Thus  was  the  youthful  Anna  a 
pioneer  in  the  land  which  she  lived  to  see  blossoming 
as  the  rose  under  the  hands  of  civilization  and  material 
progression. 

Jud^e  Svmmes  was  one  of  the  Associate  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court-  of  the  jSTorth  Western  Territory, 
and  was  often  called  to  attend  Court  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  Territory.  During  the  absence  of  her  father  on 
these  journeyings,  Anna  would  spend  most  of  her  time 
with  an  elder  sister,  who  had  previously  removed  to 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  It  was  while  on  one  of  these 
a  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  Peyton  Short,  that  she  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  her  future  husband,  then  Captain 
Harrison  *  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  in  com- 

*  William  Henry  Harrison,  the  third  and  youngest  son  of  Benjamin 
HarrisoD,  of  Virginia,  was  bom  the  9th  day  of  February,  1773,  at  Berkley 
on  the  James  river,  about  twenty-five  miles  below  Richmond,  in  Charles 
City  County.  His  father  was  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  afterward  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia. Tonng  Harrison  was  educated  at  Hampden  Sydney  College,  and 
afterward  studied  medicine.  After  bis  father's  death  in  1791,  he  becamo 
tho  ward  of  Robert  Morris,  the  celebrated  financier,  wbose  private  for- 
tune so  often  relieved  the  sufferings  of  tbe  Continental  Armv.    When 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  3 59 

mand  of  Fort  Washington,  the  present  site  of  Cincin 
nati.  The  youthful  Virginian  was  much  attracted  by 
the  gentle,  modest  manners  and  the  sweet  face  of  Anna 
Symmes,  and  he  determined  on  winning  her  hand. 
The  effort  was  highly  successful,  for  they  were  married 
at  her  father's  house,  North  Bend,  Ohio,  November 
22d,  1795. 

Thus,  in  less  than  one  year  after  her  removal  from 
her  childhood's  home,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  her  age, 
Anna  Symmes  became  the  wife  of  Captain  Harrison, 
subsequently  the  most  popular  General  of  his  day  and 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Soon  after  their  marriage,  Captain  Harrison  re- 
signed his  commission  in  the  army,  and  was  elected  the 
first  deligate  to  Congress  from  the  North  West  Terri- 
tory. Mrs.  Harrison  accompanied  him  to  Philadelphia, 
then  the  seat  of  the  General  Government,  but  spending, 
however,  most  of  the  session  in  visiting  her  husband's 
relatives  in  Virginia. 

From  those  who  knew  Mrs.  Harrison  at  this  period 
of  her  life,  is  given  the  assurance  that  she  was  very 
handsome.  Her  face  was  full  of  animation  and  kind- 
liness, and  her  health,  which  was  perfectly  robust,  add- 
ed a  glow  to  her  features,  very  pleasing  to  behold. 
Her  figure  was  not  large,  but  a  happy  medium,   al- 

about  to  graduate  as  a  physician,  the  reports  of  troubles  in  the  West  de- 
cided him  to  join  the  frontier  troops.  The  opposition  of  his  excellent 
guardian  was  not  sufficient  to  deter  him  from  his  purpose,  and  as  his  de- 
sign was  approved  by  Washington,  who  had  also  been  a  warm  friend  of 
his  father,  he  received  from  that  noble  warrior  an  ensign's  commission  in 
the  first  regiment  of  United  States  Artillery,  then  stationed  at  Fort 
Washington. 


360  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

though  rather  inclined  to  "become  reduced  upon  the 
slightest  occasion.  Later  in  life,  as  her  health  grew 
more  delicate,  she  looked  much  smaller  than  when  in 
youth's  bright  morn  she  became  a  bride.  In  a  letter 
received  by  her  in  1840,  from  a  friend  who  had  known 
her  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  this  passage  occurs:  "I 
suppose  I  should  not  recognize  any  thing  of  your  pres- 
ent countenance,  for  your  early  days  have  made  such 
an  impression  upon  my  mind  that  I  cannot  realize  any 
countenance  for  you  but  that  of  your  youth,  on  which 
nature  had  been  so  profusely  liberal."  In  the  pictures 
I  have  seen  of  her,  her  face  exhibits  a  very  intel- 
lectual and  animated  expression,  and  there  are  traces 
of  former  beauty  in  the  delicate  features  and  bright 
black  eyes. 

When  the  Indiana  Territory  which  now  forms  the 
State  of  Indiana,  was  formed  out  of  a  portion  of  the 
old  North  Western  Territory,  General  Harrison  was 
appointed  its  first  Governor  by  President  Adams. 

He  removed  his  family  to  the  old  French  town  of 
Vintennes,  on  the  Wabash,  then  the  seat  of  the  Terri- 
torial Government,  where  Mrs.  Harrison  lived  for  many 
years  a  retired  but  veryhappy  life. 

Dispensing  with  a  liberal  hand  and  courteous  man- 
ner the  hospitality  of  the  Gubernatorial  Mansion,  she 
was  beloved  and  admired  by  all  who  knew  her.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  retained  this  position  during  the  admin- 
istrations of  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  Madison,  until  the 
inglorious  surrender  of  Hull,  in  1812,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  north-western  army. 
Mrs.  Harrison  remained  in  Yincennes  during  the  fal> 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  36'j 

of  1811,  while  her  husband  was  marching  with  his 
small  force  to  disband  the  tribes  of  hostile  Indiana 
gathering  for  battle  at  Prophet's  Town,  and  was  there 
when  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  reached 
her.  But  she  rejoiced  that  it  was  over,  and  the  for- 
midable  combinations  of  Tecumseli  and  the  Prophet 
were  dissipated  forever.  Henceforth  the  settlers  might 
work  in  peace,  for  the  foot  of  the  red  man  came  never 
again  across  the  Wabash  with  hostile  intent. 

The  battle-ground  of  Tippecanoe,  the  scene  of  Gen- 
eral Harrisons  dearly  bought  triumph,  after  the  lapse 
of  more  than  half  a  century,  is  as  quiet  and  green  as 
a  village  churchyard.  A  low  white  paling  fence  sur- 
rounds it,  and  the  trees  are  tall  and  carefully  pruned 
of  undergrowth.  Mounds,  so  frequently  observed  in 
the  west,  and  here  and  there  a  quaint  wooden  head- 
board marks  the  spot  of  some  brave  soldier's  fall.  The 
train  as  it  rushes  from  Lafayette  through  what  was 
formerly  a  wilderness,  to  the  west,  gives  the  traveller 
but  a  moment  to  look  upon  this  historic  spot,  but  the 
passing  view  repays  one  for  the  effort  made  to  see  it, 
and  the  effect  on  a  thoughtful  nature  is  mournfully 
pleasant.  One  forgets  all  the  hearts  which  were  bro- 
ken, all  the  hopes  blasted  that  fatal  7th  of  Xovember 
morning,  when  the  savages  rushed  unexpectedly  upon 
the  weary  troops,  sleeping  after  the  exhaustive  fatigue 
of  travel.  It  is  not  of  them  as  individuals  which 
makes  one  feel  a  glow  of  patriotism  in  viewing  this 
silent  place,  but  the  principles  for  which  they  fought 
have  been  vindicated,  and  their  burying-ground  hal- 
lowed.    These  thoughts  rise  when  looking  upon  a  for- 


362  LADIES   OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

mer  field  of  carnage  and  deadly  strife.  Where  now 
wild  flowers  cover  the  ground  with  beauty,  and  birds 
in  the  silent  trees  fill  the  air  with  melody,  where  the 
stars  shed  a  soft,  holy  light,  and  the  universal  nature 
covers  the  ravages  of  time  with  a  mantle  of  turf, — was 
once  the  slaughter  ground  of  a  race  rapidly  passing 
away. 

After  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  General  Harrison 
removed  his  family  to  Cincinnati,  and  accepted  the  po- 
sition of  Major-General  in  the  forces  of  Kentucky,  then 
about  to  march  to  the  relief  of  the  Xorth  Wes1 
Territory. 

Mrs.  Harrison  was  thus  left  a  comparative  stranger 
in  Cincinnati,  with  the  sole  charge  of  her  yonng  and 
large  family  of  children  during  the  greater  part  of  bh 
war  of  1612.     Bur::  time,  several  of  the  chil  ] 

were  prostrated  by  long  and  severe  illness,  and  to  this 
trial  was  added  the  painful  anxiety  attending  the  fate 
of  her  husband.  But  under  these  and  all  afflictions. 
Mrs.  Harrison  bore  np  with  the  firmness  of  a  Eoman 
matron,  and  the  hurniihy  and  resignation  of  a  tried 
Christian  mother. 

In  1S14,  General  Harrison  resigned  his  position  in 
the  army  and  went  to  live  at  North  Bend,  fifteen  miles 
below  Cincinnati,  on  the  Ohio.  In  the  limits  of  this 
sketch  it  is  impossible  to  give  all  the  interesting  de- 
tails of  Mrs.  Harrison's  lire  during  her  thirty  years' 
residence  at  the  old  homestead.  Manv,  very  manv  of 
her  acts  of  neighborly  kindness  and  Christian  charity 
will  never  be  known  on  earth,  for  she  shrank  from  any 
exposition  of  her  benevolence. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE.  363 

General  Harrison  being  much  from  home,  engaged 
in  public  affairs,  she  was  left  in  the  control  of  her  large 
family  of  ten  children,  and  ofttimes  the  children  of  her 
friends  and  neighbors.  Schools  in  that  new  and  unset- 
tled country  were  "  few  and  far  between,"  and  Mrs. 
Harrison  always  employed  a  private  tutor.  The  gen- 
erous hospitality  of  North  Bend  being  so  well  known, 
*it  was  not  surprising  that  many  of  the  children  of  the 
neighborhood  became  inmates  of  her  family  for  as  long 
as  they  chose  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  of 
the  little  school. 

Although  at  this  time  in  delicate  health,  Mrs.  Har- 
rison never  wearied  or  complained  in  the  discharge  of 
domestic  duties,  and  forgot  the  multiplied  cares  she  as- 
sumed in  the  thought  of  the  benefit  the  children  of 
others  would  derive  from  such  an  arrangement.  She 
was  sustained  by  her  husband,  and  loved  by  her  chil- 
dren and  servants,  and  the  burden  was  lightened  spir- 
itually, if  not  materially. 

But  here  commenced  the  long  series  of  trials  which 
tested  her  character,  and  chastened  her  heart.  During 
her  thirty  years'  life  at  North  Bend,  she  buried  one 
child  in  infancy,  and  subsequently  followed  to  the 
grave  three  daughters  and  four  sons,  all  of  whom  were 
settled  in  life,  and  ten  grandchildren.  In  view  of  these 
bereavements  she  wrote  to  her  pastor,  "  And  now  what 
shall  I  say  to  these  things ;  only,  '  Be  still  and  know 
that  I  am  God.1  You  will  not  fail  to  pray  for  me  and 
my  dear  son  and  daughter  who  are  left.  For  I  have 
no  wish  for  my  children  and  grandchildren  than  to  see 
them  the  humble  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'1 


364  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Her  influence  over  her  family  was  strong  and  abid- 
ing and  all  loved  to  do  reverence  to  her  consistent, 
conscientious  life.  Her  only  surviving  son  wrote  in 
184S,  "That  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the  religion  of 
Christ  is  not  a  virtue  of  mine.  I  imbibed  it  at  my 
mother's  breast,  and  can  no  more  divest  myself  of  it 
than  I  can  of  my  nature." 

The  same  was  true  of  all  her  children,  and  what* 
errors  they  might  embrace,  they  could  not  forget  the 
religion  of  their  mother,  nor  wander  far  from  the  pre- 
cepts, for  "  whatever  is  imbibed  with  the  mother's  milk, 
lasts  forever  for  weal  or  for  woe."  The  following  inci- 
dent will  show  that  her  precepts  and  examples  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church  were  not  unappreciated  by  her  hus- 
band. In  1 510,  during  the  Presidential  canvass,  a  dele- 
gation of  politicians  visited  North  Bend  on  the  Sab- 
bath. General  Harrison  met  them  near  his  residence 
and  extending  his  hand,  said:  "  Gentlemen.  I  should  be 
most  happy  to  welcome  you  on  any  other  day,  but  if  I 
have  no  regard  for  religion  myself,  I  have  too  much  re- 
spect for  the  religion  of  my  wife  to  encourage  the  vio- 
lation of  the  Christian  sabbath." 

In  1S36,  General  Harrison  was  first  nominated  for 
the  Presidency.  Mrs.  Harrison  was  much  annoyed  by 
even  the  remote  possibility  of  his  election.  There 
were  no  less  than  three  candidates  of  the  old  federal 
party  in  the  field,  and  the  triumph  of  either  was  al- 
most an  impossibility.  Yet  even  this  probability  of 
having  to  break  up  the  retirement  of  her  old  home  at 
North  Bend  and  be  thrown  in  the  station  of  fashion 
and  position  in  Washington,  filled  the  heart   of  Mrs 


LADIES  .OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  365 

Harrison  with  dismay.  When  the  trio  of  candidates 
had  defeated  themselves  and  elected  the  champion  of 
the  Democracy,  Mrs.  Harrison  felt  heartily  glad  that 
her  quiet  was  again  restored,  and  she  contemplated 
with  renewed  delight,  the  happy  contentment  of  her 
western  home  on  the  banks  of  the  sparkling  flowing 
river. 

In  1S40,  the  Federal  party  had  ceased  to  exist ;  the 
opponents  of  Jackson  and  the  system  which  emanated 
from  his  administration  had  taken  the  name  of  the 
Whig  party,  and  Harrison,  the  sagacious  Governor  of 
the  Northwestern  Territory,  the  successful  General, 
and  later  the  farmer  of  North  Bend,  was  the  chosen 
of  the  people,  and  the  idol  of  his  party. 

The  canvass,  for  months  before  the  day  of  the 
election,  carried  the  most  intense  excitement  and  un- 
bounded enthusiasm  throughout  the  Union.  The 
pecuniary  difficulties  of  the  country,  during  the  past 
administration,  left  the  people  an  opportunity  for  po- 
litical gatherings.  Financial  prostration  and  hopeless 
bankruptcy  paralyzed  the  various  trades ;  and  in  the 
workshop,  as  in  the  counting-house,  in  the  streets,  in 
the  fields,  in  vacant  factories  and  barns,  in  the  me- 
chanic's, as  in  the  artisan's  room,  were  heard  debates 
of  the.  pending  question.  Everywhere  long  proces- 
sions with  mottoed  banners  were  seen  marching  to 
music,  and  throughout  the  land  was  heard  the  famous 
old  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,"  and  "  Van  is  a  used 
up  man,"  campaign  songs.  Never  before  or  since  was 
such  interest  manifested,  and  never  again  will  there  be 
the  same  admiration   expressed   for   any  aspirant  to 


366  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE.  HOUSE. 

public  honors.  Log  cabins,  illustrative  of  General 
Harrison's  early  days,  were  "  raised  "  everywhere,  and 
u  companies "'  visited  from  place  to  place,  equipped  in 
handsome  uniforms,  and  accompanied  by  bands  of 
music.  The  whigs  struggled  manfully  to  elect  their 
candidate,  bringing  to  their  service  powerful  appeals 
in  the  forms  of  stirring  song,  executed  by  youths  in 
the  streets,  and  dwelling  continually  upon  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payment,  revival  of  languishing 
trade,  and  public  retrenchment  and  economy.  The 
result  was  such  as  every  one  expected.  General  Har- 
rison was  elected  President  by  a  large  majority,  and 
John  Tyler  of  Virginia  was  chosen  Vice  President. 
This  triumphant  victory  brought  no  sense  of  pride  or 
elation  to  Mrs.  Harrison.  She  was  grateful  to  her 
countrymen  for  this  unmistakable  appreciation  of  the 
civil  and  military  services  ofher  husband,  and  rejoiced 
at  his  vindication  over  his  traducers,  but  she  took  no 
pleasure  in  contemplating  the  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  a  life  at  the  Executive  Mansion.  At  no  period  of 
her  life  had  she  any  taste  for  the  gayeties  of  fashion 
or  the  dissipations  of  society.  Her  friends  were  ever 
welcomed  to  her  home,  and  found  there  refined  pleas- 
ures and  innocent  amusements,  but  for  the  life  of  a 
woman  of  the  world  she  had  no  sympathy. 

General  Harrison  left  his  home  in  February,  and 
wa?  received  in  Washington  with  every  demonstration 
of  respect,  and  welcomed  by  Mayor  Seaton  in  a  speech 
delivered  at  City  Hall.  It  was  raining  hard  when  he 
left  the  railroad  dept>t,  yet  he  walked  with  his  hat  in 
his  hand,  accompanied  by  an  immense  concourse  of  peo- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  307 

pie.  He  went  from  Washington  to  his  old  home  in 
Virginia  for  a  few  clays,  but  returned  in  time  for  the 
Inauguration.  The  morning  of  the  4th  of  March, 
1841,  was  ushered  in  by  a  salute  of  twenty-six  guns. 
The  clay  was  devoted  entirely  to  pleasure.  The  city 
of  Washington  was  thronged  with  people,  many  of 
whom  were  from  the  most  distant  States  of  the  Union 
The  procession  was  in  keeping  with  the  enthusiasm 
and  interest  displayed  throughout  the  campaign. 
Ladies  thronged  the  windows,  and  waved  their  hand- 
kerchiefs in  token  of  kind  feelings,  while  the  wild 
huzzas  of  the  opposite  sex  filled  the  air  with  a  deafen- 
ing noise.  General  Harrison  was  mounted  on  a  white 
charger,  accompanied  by  several  personal  friends,  and 
his  immediate  escort  were  the  officers  and  soldiers  who 
had  fought  under  him.  Canoes  and  cabins,  covered 
with  appropriate  mottoes,  were  conspicuous,  and  the 
scene  was  one  of  universal  splendor. 

Mrs.  Harrison's  health,  delicate  for  many  years, 
was  particularly  frail  in  February  when  her  husband 
left  home  for  Washington,  and  her  physicians  protested 
against  her  crossing  the  mountains  at  that  season  of 
the  year,  and  urged  her  remaining  in  Ohio  until  the 
opening  of  spring.  General  Harrison  was  accompanied 
to  Washington  by  his  claughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Jane  F. 
Harrison,  the  widow  of  his  namesake  son,  and  her  two 
sons.  She  was  a  very  refined  accomplished  person, 
and  exceedingly  popular  during  her  short  stay  as  mis- 
tress of  ceremonies  at  the  White  House.  Besides  Mrs. 
Jane  F.  Harrison,  there  were  several  ladies  of  the 
President's  family  residing  temporarily  with  her,  until 


365  LADIES    01'    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Mrs.  Ha  should  come  on.     Mrs.  Findlay,  the  wife 

of  General  Findlay  and  aged  aunt  of  Mrs.  Harrison, 
Miss  Ramsay,  a  cousin,  and  Mrs.  Lucy  S.  Taylor,  of 
Richmond,  Virginia,  a  niece  of  the  President's,  these 
were  the  occupants  of.  the  mansion  the  few  short 
week-  of  the  President's  life,  for  in  one  month  from 
the  day  of  his  inauguration,  he  died.  Pneumonia  was 
the  avowed  cause,  but  it  was  the  applicants  for  office 
who  killed  him.  He  was  weak  and  aged,  and  unac- 
customed to  the  confined  life  forced  upon  him  in  his 
new  position,  and  the  gentle  kindness  with  which  he 
received  all  who  were  clamoring  for  office,  did  but  in- 
spire them  with  renewed  ardor.  The  whig  party  had 
been  out  of  power  many  years,  and  the  greed  of  the 
politicians  snapped  the  tendrils  of  the  veteran's  declin- 
ing years  and  sent  him  to  the  tomb  before  the  glad 
notes  of  the  inauguration  anthem  had  (lied  over  the 
Virginia  hills.  President  Harrison  uied  the  4th  of 
April,  1841,  and  on  the  7th  was  laid  temporarily 
rest  in  the  Congressional  burying-gronnda  The  aer- 
vice  was  performed  in  the  "White  House,  by  Pev.  Mr. 
Hawley,  in  the  presence  of  President  Tyler,  ex-Presi- 
dent  Adams,  members  of  the  cabinet,  of  Congress, 
and  the  foreign  ministers.  The  procession  was  two 
miles  in  length,  and  was  marshalled  on  its  way  by 
officers  on  h  k  carrying  white  batons  with  black 

tassels.  At  the  grounds,  the  liturgy  of  the  Episcopal 
church  was  recited  by  Mr.  Hawley.  t:  The  coffin  hav- 
ing  been  placed  in  the  receiving  vault,  and  the  mili- 
tary salute  having  been  fired,  the  procession  resumed 
its  march  to  the  city,  and  by  rive  o'clock  that  evening 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  369 

nothing  remained  but  empty  streets,  and  the  emblems 
of  mourning  upon  the  houses,  and  the  still  deeper 
gloom  which  oppressed  the  general  mind  with  renewed 
power  after  all  was  over,  and  the  sense  of  the  public 
bereavement  alone  was  left  to  fill  the  thoughts.  The 
following  touching  lines,  from  the  gifted  pen  of  N.  P. 
Willis,  remarkable  for  their  pathos  and  harmony,  need 
no  apology  for  being  introduced  here.  The  grandeur 
and  simple  beauty  of  the  swelling  poem  deserve  a 
more  lasting  record  than  transitory  verses  usually 
receive. 

What  soared  the  old  eagle  to  die  at  the  sun,  . 
Lies  he  stiff  with  spread  wings  at  the  goal  he  has  won ! 
Are  there  spirits  more  blest  than  the  planet  of  even 
Who  mount  to  their  zenith,  then  melt  into  heaven? 
Xo  waning  of  fire,  no  quenchiug  of  ray, 
But  rising,  still  rising,  when  pussing  away  ! 
Farewell,  gallant  eagle  !  thou'rt  buried  in  light ! 
God-speed  unto  Heaven,  lost  star  of  our  night ! 

Death  !  Death  in  the  White  House  !  ah,  never  before 
Trod  his  skeleton  foot  on  the  President's  floor ; 
He  is  looked  for  in  hovel  and  dreaded  in  hall, 
The  king  in  his  closet  keeps  hatchments  and  pall, 
The  youth  in  his  birth-place,  the  old  man  at  home, 
Make  clean  from  the  door-stone  the  path  to  the  tomb  ; 
But  the  lord  of  this  mansion  was  cradled  not  here, 
In  a  churchyard  far  off  stands  his  beckoning  bier : 
He  is  here  as  the  wave  crest  heaves  flashing  on  high, 
As  the  arrow  is  stopp'd  by  its  prize  in  the  sky —      N 
The  arrow  to  earth,  and  the  foam  to  the  shore, 
Death  finds  them  when  swiftness  and  shankle  are  o'er; 
But  Harrison's  death  fills  the  climax  of  story: 
He  went  with  his  old  stride  from  glory  to  glory. 

Lay  his  sword  on  his  breast !  there's  no  spot  on  its  blade 
In  whose  cankering  breath  his  bright  laurels  will  fade: 

24 


370  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Twas  the  first  to  lead  on  at  humanity's  call, 

It  was  6tay'd  with  street  mercy  when  "glory"  was  all ; 

As  calm  in  the  conncil  as  gallant  in  war, 

He  fought  for  his  country,  and  not  its  "hurrah !  " 

In  the  path  of  the  hero  with  pity  he  trod, 

Let  him  pass  with  his  sword  to  the  presence  of  God! 

What  more  ?  Shall  we  on  with  his  ashes  ?  Yet  stay ! 

He  hath  raled  the  wide  realm  of  a  king  in  his  day  ; 

At  his  word,  like  a  monarch's,  went  treasure  and  land, 

The  bright  gold  of  thousands  has  passed  through  his  hand. 

Ts  there  nothing  to  show  of  his  flittering  hoard  ? 

2so  jewels  to  deck  the  rude  hilt  of  his  sword — 

]so  tappings— no  horses?   what  had  he?   But  now, 

On,  on  with  his  ashes !   he  left  but  his  plough ! 

Brave  old  Cincinnatus !  unwind  ye  his  sheet : 

Let  him  deeg  is  he  lived, — with  his  purse  at  his  feet. 

Oow  now  a*  ye  list :  the  first  mourner  to-day 
Is  the  nation — whose  father  is  taken  away. 

.  children,  and  neighbor  may  moan  at  his  knell — 
Be  was  ''lover  and  friend"'  to  his  country  as  well ! 
For  the  stars  on  our  banner  grown  suddenly  dim 
Let  cs  weep,  in  our  darkness — but  weep  not  for  him. 
Xot  for  him,  who,  departing,  leaves  millions  in  tears  ; 
Not  for  him,  who  has  died  full  of  honor  and  years  : 
From  the  round  at  the  top  he  has  stepped  to  the  sky — 
It  is  blessed  to  go,  when  so  ready  to  die  ! 

The  members  of  President  Harrison's  family  im- 
mediately vacated  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  the 
grief-stricken  widow  ceased  the  preparations  for  her 
prolonged  absence  from  home.  What  a  shock  this 
death  must  have  been  to  her  !  Fur  many  months  an 
interested  spectator,  if  not  an  actor,  in  the  stirring 
events  of  the  canvass  and  election,  afterward  a  sharer 
in  the  triumphs  of  her  husband,  and  for  weeks  antici- 
pating the  happy  reunion  in  the  mansion  of  the  Presi- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  371 

dents,  to  be  rudely  torn  by  fate  from  his  presence  for 
ever,  and  to  see  every  hope  lying  crushed  around  her; 
would  have  harrowed  a  nature  of  coarsest  mould.  She 
was  summoned  from  the  busy  care  of  forwarding  some 
matter  of  interest  to  be  told  that  he  was  dead.  Dead ! 
she  could  scarcely  believe  the  evidences  of  her  senses ! 
Dead!  or  was  she  mistaken  in  what  was  said  to  her? 
His  last  letter  was  before  her,  and  she  had  scarcely 
ceased  reading  the  accounts  in  the  papers  of  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  inauo-ural  balls. 

O 

Howsoever  cruel  the  blow,  it  was  bome  meekly 
and  humbly  by  the  Christian  wife  and  mother,  and  she 
aroused  herself  from  the  stupor  in  which  the  an- 
nouncement had  thrown  her. 

In  July,  the  remains  of  the  sincerely  regretted 
President  and  deeply  mourned  husband  and  father 
were  removed  to  their  present  resting  place  at  North 
Bend. 

Had  her  husband  lived,  Mrs.  Harrison  would  have 
gone  to  Washington  and  discharged  faithfully  and 
courteously  the  duties  of  her  position.  But  her  resi- 
dence there  would  not  have  been  in  accordance  with 
her  wishes  or  her  taste. 

She  continued  to  reside  at  her  old  home,  where 
the  happiest  years  of  her  life  had  been  spent,  until  the 
autumn  of  1855,  when  she  removed  from  the  old 
homestead  to  the  residence  of  her  only  surviving  son, 
Hon.  J.  Scott  Harrison,  five  miles  below  North  Bend, 
on  the  Ohio  Biver.  She  remained  an  inmate  of  his 
family  until  her  death. 

During  the  latter  part  of  her  life,  she  had  manv 


372  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  severe  attacks  of  illness,  and  perhaps  nothing  but 
the  skill  and  devoted  medical  services  of  her  physi- 
cians  and  the  almost  idolatrous  attentions  of  her 
granddaughters,  kept  the  lamp  of  her  life  nickering 
so  lono-.  Her  grandsons,  too,  claimed  their  share  in 
this  "  labor  of  love,"  and  when  the  telegraph  bore  to 
their  distant  homes  the  tidings  of  her  illness,  they 
came  with  their  wives  to  wait  at  her  bedside,  and 
whatever  of  business  was  suspended  or  neglected,  their 
attentions  to  her  were  not  relaxed  for  a  moment.  In 
a  recent  letter  received  from  a  granddaughter  of  Mrs. 
Harrison's,  this  paragraph  occurs :  "  Of  many  of  the 
facts  of  her  later  life  I  was  an  eye-witness,  as  I  was  an 
inmate  of  my  father's  family  for  three  years  previous 
to  her  death,  and  had  the  inestimable  privilege  of  see- 
ing her  beautiful  Christian  resignation  and  conformity 
to  the  will  of  God  as  life  drew  to  its  close.  Indeed,  it 
was  upon  my  breast  that  she  breathed  her  precious  life 


away.'" 


3Irs.  Harrison  was  not  indifferent  to  the  political 
events  of  the  asre  in  which  she  lived,  and  few  were 
better  informed  with  regard  to  public  men  and  meas- 
ures than  herself.  Much  of  her  time  she  spent  in 
reading,  during  the  closing  years  of  her  life,  and  she 
kept  herself  informed,  through  the  medium  of  the  daily 
papers,  of  the  transactions  of  the  outside  world.  Very 
few  persons  of  even  younger  years  took  a  greater  in- 
terest in  the  movements  of  the  armies  during  the  late 
civil  war,  or  could  give  a  more  succinct  and  graphic 
account  of  the  details  of  a  campaign. 

She  was   not  radical   in   her  sentiments,  and  in« 


LADIES    OF    TEE    WHITE    HOUSE.  373 

dulged  in  no  preconceived  prejudices  against  the  South 
and  its  peculiar  institutions.  In  regard  to  the  holding 
of  slaves,  she  was  willing  that  all  should  "be  fully 
persuaded  in  their  own  minds  as  to  its  propriety,  but 
her  own  convictions  were  strongly  against  it. 

"  Many  of  her  grandsons  were  officers  and  soldiers 
in  the  Union  army,  and  as  occasion  would  permit,  they 
would  visit  her  to  ask  her  blessing  and  her  prayers. 
The  one  was  given,  and  the  other  promised  with  a 
patriotic  zeal  and  ardor  that  many  of  the  sterner  sex 
mio-ht  well  have  emulated. 

"  During-  the  war,  a  grandson  and  member  of  the 
family  in  which  she  resided,  came  home  on  a  brief 
leave  of  absence.  The  day  of  his  departure  arrived, 
and  he  went  to  the  chamber  of  his  grandmother  to 
take  what  he  supposed  to  be  his  last  farewell  in  this 
life,  as  she  was  then  confined  to  her  bed  wTith  a  severe 
illness.  She  received  him  with  great  affection,  and  in 
reply  to  his  expressions  of  regret  at  leaving  her,  she 
said,  l  Oh,  no,  my  son,  your  country  needs  your  servi- 
ces, I  do  not.  Go  and  discharge  your  duty  faithfully 
and  fearlessly.  I  feel  that  my  prayers  in  your  behalf 
will  be  heard,  and  that  you  will  be  returned  in  safety. 
And  yet,  perhaps,  I  do  not  feel  as  much  concerned  for 
you  as  I  should :  I  have  parted  so  often  with  your 
grandfather  under  similar  circumstances,  and  he  was 
always  returned  to  me  in  safety,  that  I  feel  it  will  be 
the  same  with  you.'" 

The  young  Captain  did  return  to  see  his  grand- 
mother again  in  this  life  after  several  hard  fought  bat- 
ties,  in  which  he  received  complimentary  notice  from 


374  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

bis  comraandino-  officers.  The  letter  is  thus  concluded: 
"  My  husband,  Dr.  Eaton,  one  of  her  physicians  being 
in  the  house  and  an  invalid,  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
her  room,  and  would  often  say  to  me,  'I  never  met  a 
more  entertaining  person  than  your  grandma.  I  could 
sit  for  hours  and  listen  to  her  conversation.'  Such  is 
not  often  said,  by  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  of  an  old 
lady  nearly  ninety  years  of  age.  Since  then  be  has 
gone  to  join  her  in  her  heavenly  home." 

3Irs.  Harrison's  distinguishing  characteristics  were 
her  Christian  humility  and  total  want  of  selfishness ; 
her  modest,  retiring  manners  and  generosity  and  be- 
nevolence. She  was  always  anxious  to  promote  the 
well-being  of  others  at  her  own  expense,  and  sacrificed 
herself  for  the  good  of  others. 

Many  incidents  of  generosity  are  remembered  and 
Treasured  by  her  descendants,  which  though  not  of 
sufficient  interest  to  record,  are  of  priceless  value  to 
those  who  witnessed  their  exhibition,  and  were  recipi- 
ents of  her  beneficence. 

Every  public  and  private  charity  was  near  her 
heart,  and  received  liberally  from  her  hand.  But  those 
who  enjoyed  her  bounty,  knew  not  of  its  source.  To 
a  poor  minister  she  would  write :  "  Accept  this  trifle 
from  a  friend."  To  the  Bethel  Sabbath-school,  "  This  is 
but  a  widow's  mite."  To  the  suffering  poor  of  the 
city,  "Please  distribute  this  from  one  who  wishes  it 
was  a  thousand  times  more." 

She  continued  to  bear  on  her  praying  lips  the  sal- 
vation of  her  descendants,  and  as  she  drew  near  the 
closing  scene,  this  was  her  song: 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  375 

"  Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea 
But  that  thy  hlood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  thou  bidd'st  me  come  to  thee,— 
O,  Lamb  of  God !   I  come." 

Her  intellectual  powers  and  physical  senses  were 
retained  to  the  last,  and  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  she 
was  an  agreeable  companion  for  both  old  and  young. 

On  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  February,  1864,  in 
the  eighty-ninth  year  of  her  age,  Mrs.  Harrison  died  at 
the  residence  of  her  son. 

Her  funeral  took  place  at  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Cleves,  on  Sunday,  February  the  28th.  The  sermon 
was  preached  by  the  Kev.  Horace  Bushnell,  from  the 
text,  "Be  still  and  know  that  I  am  God."  The  selec- 
tion was  made  by  herself  and  given  several  years  be- 
fore to  Mr.  Bushnell,  her  pastor  and  intimate  friend  for 
many  years.  The  remains  were  deposited  beside  those 
of  her  husband,  and  they  together  sleep  by  the  banks 
of  the  beautiful  Ohio  at  North  Bend. 


376  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


LETITIA  CHRISTIAN  TTLER, 

The  first  wife  of  John  Tyler,  tenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  the  third  daughter  of  Robert  Chris- 
tian, Esq..  of  Cedar  Grove,  in  Xew  Kent  County,  in  the 
Stare  of  Virginia ;  a  gentleman  of  good  private  fortune, 
an  earnest  Federalist  of  that  day  in  his  political  opin- 
ions, and  an  attached  friend  and  adherent  of  George 
Washington.  He  possessed  the  highest  social  and  po- 
litical influence  in  the  county  of  his  residence,  and,  in- 
toed,  throughout  the  Peninsular  District,  embraced  be- 
tween the  York  and  James  rivers.  His  house  was  the 
seat  of  genuine  Virginia  hospitality,  and  his  neighbors, 
trusting  implicitly  to  his  good  sense  and  integrity,  ap- 
pealed to  his  arbitration  in  matters  involving  legal 
controversy,  in  preference  to  submitting  their  cases  in 
the  courts.  For  many  consecutive  years,  he  was  not 
only  the  presiding  magistrate  of  his  county,  but  also 
its  representative  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State:  and 
his  brothers,  among  whom  was  the  late  Major  Edmund 
Christian,  of  Creighton,  Marshal  of  Virginia,  were  men 
of  mark  and  influence. 

This  worthy  gentleman  married  in  early  life  Mary 
Brown,  an  amiable  lady  of  high  worth  and  character, 
with  whom  he  lived  in  happiness  until  her  death,  and 
through  whom  he  was  blessed  with  a  larsre  family  of 
sons  and  daughters  ;  the  males  being,  without  exception, 
distinguished  for  their  personal  courage,  intelligence, 


9*$ 


- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  377 

and  graceful  appearance  and  manners,  and  the  daugh 
ters  for  their  beauty,  piety,  and  domestic  virtues. 

Among  that  bevy  of  fair  daughters,  Letitia,  after- 
ward Mrs.  Tyler,  born  on  the  12th  November,  1790, 
under  the  paternal  roof  at  Cedar  Grove,  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  attractive  in  her  modest  refinement  and  striking 
loveliness  of  person  and  character ;  and  although  al- 
ways instinctively  shrinking  from  public  observation, 
she  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  belles  of  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia. Her  hand  was  sought  in  marriage  by  many 
suitors,  but  from  the  number  who  presented  them- 
selves— some  of  whom  were  the  possessors  of  large  es- 
tates— her  heart  and  excellent  judgment  selected  the 
then  talented  and  rising  young  lawyer,  who,  inheriting 
the  unrivalled  popularity  of  his  father,  Governor  John 
Tyler,  with  a  mind  still  more  brilliant  and  cultivated, 
was  just  entering  upon  that  remarkable  career  which 
has  so  directly  and  powerfully  impressed  his  genius,  not 
only  on  the  history  of  his  noble,  old  state,  but  on  that 
of  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  marriage  of  the  youthful  pair,  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1813,  she  being  in  the  twenty-second  year  of 
her  age,  and  he  having  completed  his  twenty-third  on 
that  day,  was  particularly  acceptable  to  both  houses ; 
and  Letitia  being  tue  ^°^  °f  ner  ^rotners  an^  sis- 
ters,  upon  Mr.  Tyler  was  at  once  concentrated 
the  unfailing  affection  and  support — an  affection  and 
support  which  attended  him  through  life— of  every 
member  of  the  numerous  and  powerful  Christian 
family,  harmonizing  to  no  inconsiderable  extent  in 
Lower  Virginia,  and  uniting  in  his  favor  both  of 
the    great    political    parties    of    the    day— his   own 


37S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

father  having  been,  privately  and  publicly,  the  cobs: ant 
friend  of   Henry  and  of  Jefferson,  a   leader   in   the 
movement  and  war  of  Independence,  and  the  q 
representative  of  the  State  Righto  Republicans  in  his 
own  right,  and  Mr.  Robert  Christian  fa  ;>een  the 

constant  friend  of  Washington,  and  a  prominent  1, 
and  representative  man  among  til    V   leraB 

The  wedding  festivities  over,  Mr.  ai  .  Tyler 

retired  to  their  own  home  in  Cha: 
part  of  the  "  Green  -  -.ate  of  his  father,  which  at 

once  became  an  object  of  attraction  and  u  inter- 

est to  the  many  admi  and  relativ 

happy  inmates.     Dating  from  this  period  until  Mrs. 
Tvler's  death  in  the  '  ::,  at  the  city  of 

Washington,  nearly  thirty  years  afterw;.  :iing, 

except  the  loss  of  two  infant  children  an  abse- 

quent  ill-health,  eve.  I  to  mar  the  felicit 

this  anspicions  union. 

In  the  unselfish,  constant,  and  vigilant  affection  of 
his  wife,  in  her  p  I  charms,  in  her  strong  common 

83nse  and  excellc  aent,  in  her  un:  religious 

sentiments,  in  the  bi      I   pnrhV  gent 

her  parental  and  filial  devotion,  in  her  watchful 
and  love  for  her  children,  Mr.  Tyl  thing 

to  satisfy  his  affections  and  to  gra-  ie. 

In  his  admitted  integrity  and  worth  as  a  man  and 
citizen,  in  his  great  intellectual  powers,  in  his  con- 
stantly increasing  prosperity  and  rising  reputation,  in 
the  accounts  she  received  of  his  eloqu  h  at  the 

bar  and  in  the  legislature,  and  in  the  hisrh  official  trust3 
which    ultimately  were  literally  showered  upon  him, 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  379 

one  after  the  other,  almost  without  intermission ;  and 
finally  In  his  tender  solicitude  to  restore  her  failing 
health  and  to  minister  to  her  slightest  wish,  she  dis 

red   all  that  h?r  woman's  heart,  or  her  feminine 
ambition  required,  to  complete  and.  secure  her  wedded 

iness.  The  following  letter,  the  first  that  Mr. 
ventured  to  address  to  her  before  marriage 
and  the  original  of  which  is  still  preserved  in  the  fami- 
ly— apart  from  the  natural  simplicity  of  its  style  and 
the  ordinary  interest  that  would  attach  to  it — not  only 
nta  the  most  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  sound 
an  1  healthy  sentiments,  emotions,  and  principles  of 
character  associated  with  both  and  impelling  to  their 

■•,  but  it  is  also  a  remarkable  illustration,  in  view 
of  a  -ment  prior  to  marriage,  of  the  deli- 

am!  exalted  purity  of  the  social  structure  and 
civilization  that  surrounded  them  and  under  whose 
happy  influence-  they  were  born  and  reared. 

:  iimoxd,  December  oth,  1312. 

■  Although  I  could  not  entirely  obtain  your  per- 
mission  t  >  write  to  you,  yet  I  am  well  aware  that  yon 
will  not  be  displeased  at  my  exercising  a  privilege  so 
valuable  to  one  standing  in  the  relation  that  I  do  to 
you.  To  think  of  you  and  to  write  to  you,  are  the 
only  sources  from  whence  I  can  derive  any  real  satis- 
faction during  my  residence  in  this  place.  The  pre- 
rogative of  thinking  of  those  we  love,  and  from  whom 
we  are  separated,  seems  to  be  guaranteed  to  us  by  na- 
ture, as  we  cannot  be  deprived  of  it  either  by  the  bus- 
tle and  confusion  of  a  town,  or  by  the  important  duties 


350  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

that  attach  to  oar  existence.     Believe  me,  my  L.,  that 
this     "      :  v.tion  has  "been  completely  verified  by  me 
saw  yon,  for  although  deafened  by  noise, 
and  h  ?  to  the  duties  of  my  station,  yet  you  are 

the  subject  of  my  serious  meditations  and  the  object 
of  my  :  ravers  to  heaven.     From  the  first  mo- 

ment of  mv  acquaintance  with  you,  I  felt  the  influence 
of  genuine  affection  ;  but  now,  when  I  reflect  upon  the 
;ice  which  you  make  to  virtue  and  to  feeling,  by 
conferring  your  hand  on  me,  who  have  nothing  to 
:  of  but  an  honest  and  upright  soul,  and  a  heart 
it  love.  I  feel  gratitude  .  ided  to  affection 

i  yon.     Indeed,  I  do  esteem  myself  most  rich  in  pos- 
Bessing  yon.     The  mean  and  sordid  wretch  who  yields 

i  d  g  her  whom  he  ardent- 
res,  may  1        tof  his  ill-acquired  wealth,  and  display 
his  treasures  in  all  the  pride  of  ostentation  to  the 
wor* .".     nf  II  administer  to  him  comfort  in  the 

hour  of  am:::::::  !  Whose  seraph  smile  shall  chase 
away  the  fiends  which  torment  him  \  The  partner  of 
his  bosom  he  neither  esteems  nor  regards,  and  he 
knows  nothing  of  the  balm  which  tender  affection  can 
bestow.  Nature  will  be  still  true  to  herself,  for  as 
your  favorite  Thomson  espresses  it, 

••  ■ :  t  love  can  answer  love, 

Or  raider  Hise  a:::i.' 

•'  Yon  express  some  degree  nishment,  my  L., 

ation  I  once  m  you,  'that  I  would 

en  willinglv  wealthy  at  the  time  that  I  ad- 

dresE  ..'    Suffer  me  to  repeat  it     I:  I  had  been 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  381 

wealthy,  the  idea  of  your  being  actuated  by  prudential 
considerations  in  accepting  my  suit,  would  have  eter- 
nally tortured  me.  But  I  exposed  to  you  frankly  and 
unblushingly  my  situation  in  life— my  hopes  and  my 
fears,  my  prospects  and  my  dependencies — and  you  no- 
bly responded.  To  ensure  to  you  happiness  is  now  my 
only  object,  and  whether  I  float  or  sink  in  the  stream 
of  fortune,-  you  may  be  assured  of  this,  that  I  shall 
never  cease  to  love  you.  Forgive  me  for  these  re- 
marks, which  I  have  been  irresistibly  led  to  make. 

"  Colonel  Christian  will  deliver  you  this  letter,  to- 
gether with  the  two  first  volumes  of  the  '  Forest  of 
Montabano.1  I  do  not  trouble  him  with  the  last  two 
volumes,  for  fear  of  incommoding  him,  and  because  I 
shall  be  at  your  father  s  on  Wednesday  evening,  if  the 
business  before  the  Legislature  be  not  very  important. 
You  will  feel  much  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  An- 
gelina, and  admiration  for  the  character  of  good  Father 
Patrick.  Frederick  is  inexplicable  until  the  last  vol- 
ume is  read. 

"  Again  suffer  me  to  assure  you  of  my  constant  es- 
teem and  affection,  and  believe  me  to  be  yours  most 
faithfully,  John  Tyler. 

"  To  Miss  Letitia  Christian, 
"  Xew  Kent;1 

In  sending  rue  this  letter  through  the  hands  ot 
Major  John  Tyler,  Mrs.  Letitia  Semple,  the  only  sur- 
viving daughter  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  says,  "  I  enclose 
you  a  copy  of  the  first  letter  my  father  ever  wrote  to 
my  mother;  and  I  had  a  book  of  original  sonnets 
written  by  him  in  his  youthful  days,  many  of  which 


3S2  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

were  addressed  to  her ;  for  lie  was  fall  of  music  and 
full  of  poetry  and  possessed  an  exquisite  literary  taste; 
but  this  book  has  been  lost  to  us.  in  one  of  my  writ- 
ing desks  stolen  duriDg  the  war. 

■•  My  father  and  my  mother  were  born  in  the  same 
year— that  of  1790,  he  being  from  the  29th  March 
to  the  12th  Xovember  older  than  she  was.  They 
were  married  on  father  s  twenty-third  birthday  follow- 
ing that  of  his  birth,  after  a  courtship  and  engagement 
of  nearly  five  years.  He  met  her  for  the  first  time  at 
a  private  party  in  the  neighborhood,  while  on  a  visit 
to  '  Greenway, '  the  home  residence  of  grandfather 
Tyler,  in  Charles  City  County,  adjoining  that  of  New 
Kent,  where  grandfather  Christian  resided  at  ;  Cedar 
Grove.'  He  had  already  taken  his  collegiate  degrees 
at  "William  and  Marv  College  when  seareelv  more  than 
seventeen  years  old,  and  was  at  the  time  a  law  student 
in  Richmond,  under  the  special  office  counsel  and  in- 
struction of  the  celebrated  Edmund  Randolph,  jv. 
esteemed  as  the  father  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  was  of  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence,  and  who  had  been  the  Attor- 
ney-General of  President  "Washington,  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  of  President  Jefferson,  my  grandfathei 
Tyler  being  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  then  residing  in 
Richmond.  After  their  troth  was  plighted,  he  h  I 
been  twice  or  thrice  elected  to  the  State  Legislature 
before  their  marriaore  was  solemnized:  and  his  last 
visit  to  her  at  f  Cedar  Grove '  was  only  three  w- 
before  the  wedding,  yet  I  have  heard  him  repeatedly 
say  that,  '  then,  for  the  first  time,  he  ventured  to  kiss 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  383 

her  hand  on  parting,  so  perfectly  reserved  and  modest 
had  she  always  been.' 

u  My  mother's  mother  was  Mary  Brown,  of  the 
same  family  with  that  of  the  late  Judge  John  Brown, 
of  Williamsburg,  and  Professor  Dabney  Brown,  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  the  former  of  whom  finally 
moved  to  Kentucky,  and  the  latter  more  recently  to 
California ;  and  with  that  of  the  Hon.  James  Halybur- 
ton,  late  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court  of 
Virginia,  and  of  the  Hon.  John  M.  Gregory,  late  Judge 
of  the  Henrico  Circuit  and  Governor  of  Virginia :  and 
as  to  the  late  Judge  Christian,  and  the  present  Judge 
Christian,  of  the  Peninsular  Circuit  and  of  the  General 
Court  of  Virginia,  the  first  was  her  son,  and  the  last 
her  cousin,  as  are  also  the  present  doctors  William  and 
Edward  Warren,  formerly  of  Edenton,  North  Carolina, 
whither  they  moved  from  New  Kent  in  Virginia,  but 
now  of  Baltimore." 

Not  long  after  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Tyler  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  both  of  her  parents,  and  now  having 
two  less  to  love  in  this  world,  she  freely  gave  the  share 
which  had  been  theirs,  to  her  husband  and  her  chil- 
dren, and  to  her  sisters  and  her  brothers.  In  truth,  at 
no  period  of  her  life  does  it  seem  that  she  existed  for 
herself,  but  only  for  those  near  and  dear  to  her. 

Although  she  was  noted  for  the  beauty  of  her  per- 
son  and  of  her  features,  for  the  ease  and  grace  of  her 
carriage,  for  a  delicate  refinement  of  taste  in  dress  that 
excluded  with  precision  every  color  and  ornament  not 
strictly  becoming  and  harmonizing  in  the  general  effect ; 
although  possessing  an  acute  nervous  organization  and 


3S4  LADIES    OF    TIIE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

sensitive  temperament,  combined  with  an  unusually 
correct  judgment ;  although  any  observant  stranger 
of  polished  education  would  have  been  almost  uncon- 
sciously attracted  to  her  among  thousands  by  her  ail 
of  quiet  courtesy  and  benignity  ;  although  with  these 
en  craving  qualities,  and  the  social  advantages  attaching 
to  her  position,  she  could  easily  have  impressed  her 
power  upon  what  is  termed  society  had  she  so  desired, 
still  she  never  aspired  to  wield  the  sceptre  of.  fashion, 
and  never  sought  to  attract  attention  beyond  the  lim- 
its of  her  own  family,  and  the  circle  of  her  immediate' 
friends  and  relatives. 

She  modestly  shrank  from  all  notoriety  and  evaded 
the  public  eye  as  much  as  possible.  She  had  not  the 
faintest  wish  to  enjoy  the  reputation  of  authoress  or 
wit,  or  for  maintaining  an  ascendancy  in  the  company 
of  brilliant  men  and  women  of  the  world.  She  was 
perfectly  content  to  be  seen  only  as  a  part  of  the  exist- 
ence of  her  beloved  husband ;  to  entertain  her  neicrh- 
bors  in  her  own  easy,  hospitable,  and  unostentatious 
way ;  to  converse  with  visitors  on  current  topics  in- 
telligently ;  to  sit  gently  by  her  child's  cradle,  reading, 
knitting,  or  sewing ;  or  else  to  while  away  pleasant 
hours  in  the  endearing  companionship  of  her  sisters 
and  her  intimate  acquaintances. 

It  appears  that,  though  she  resided  in  Richmond 
during  the  period  that  Mr.  Tyler  was  Governor  of 
Virginia,  and  did  the  honors  of  the  Executive  Dwell- 
ing of  the  State  with  ease  and  grace  and  singular  dis- 
cretion, winning  the  commendation  of  all  at  a  time 
when  the  metropolis  of  Virginia  was  unexcelled  upon 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  385 

the  American  continent,  either  in  respect  to  elegant 
men  or  accomplished  women ;  yet  that  she  had  rarely 
visited  the  city  while  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  that  during  his  long  term  of  service  as  Rep- 
resentative and  Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States — having  been  three  times  elected  to  the  House 
and  twice  to  the  Senate, — she  suffered  herself  to  be 
persuaded  only  once  to  pass  a  winter  in  Washington, 
and  at  the  end  of  another  session  only  reluctantly  con- 
sented, at  his  earnest  entreaty,  to  visit  one  summer  the 
gay  centres  and  resorts  of  the  North. 

When  either  her  own  health,  or  that  of  her  hus- 
band, or  that  of  her  children,  absolutely  required  a 
change  of  air  and  scene,  as  several  times  happened,  she 
vastly  preferred  the  bracing  temperature  and  invigor- 
ating atmosphere  of  the  mountains  of  Virginia  and 
the  life-inrDartino;  Greenbriar  waters  to  the  seats  of 
more  fashionable  display  and  empty  vanity.  She  was? 
under  all  circumstances,  the  wife  and  mother,  sister 
and  friend,  apparently  living  in  and  for  those  whom 
she  loved,  and  not  for  herself. 

No  English  lady  was  ever  more  skilled  and  accom- 
plished in  domestic  culture  and  economy  than  was  Mrs. 
Tyler,  and  she  was  never  so  happy  as  when  in  the  en- 
joyment of  domestic  privacy.  At  her  own  home  she 
was  a  pattern  of  order,  system,  and  neatness,  as  well 
as  of  hospitality,  charity,  benevolence,  and  conscien- 
tiousness in  the  discharge  of  every  duty  incumbent 
upon  the  mistress  of  a  large  household,  and  scrupu- 
lously attentive  to  every  wish  expressed  by  her  hus- 
25 


386  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

band  as  to  the  management  of  his  interests  in  his  al> 

o 

sence  on  public  affairs. 

Nothing  escaped  her  watchful  yet  kindly  eye, 
either  within  or  without  the  mansion.  She  loved  all 
pure  and  beautiful  things,  whether  in  nature  or  in  art. 
The  grounds  within  the  curtilage  were  tastefully 
arranged  in  lawns  and  gardens,  and  under  her  imme- 
diate inspection  were  kept  carefully  adorned  with 
shade  trees,  and  flowering  shrubs,  and  odoriferous 
plants,  and  trailing  vines,  so  that  in  the  spring,  sum- 
mer, and  fall  the  airs  around  were  literally  loaded  with 
sweets.  The  kitchen-garden  and  fruit-orchards  were 
always  extensively  cultivated. 

The  dairy  and  laundry  were  sedulously  supervised, 
and  in  all  directions  poultry  and  fowls  of  almost  every 
kind  most  prized  for  the  table,  were  to  be  seen  in 
flocks.  She  preferred  that  her  servant-women  should 
be  held  to  these  milder  employments,  and  to  spinning 
and  weaving,  knitting  and  sewing,  rather  than  being 
assigned  to  the  more  onerous  tasks  of  the  field  upon 
the  plantation. 

Thus,  under  her  superintendence,  not  only  were  all 
the  negro  field-hands  and  negro  children  comfortably 
provided  with  clothing  of  home  manufacture  and  make, 
as  well  as  ministered  to  with  care  and  supplied  with 
all  necessary  medical  attendance  when  sick,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  the  members  of  the  immediate  household 
had  their  w7ants,  in  these  respects,  for  the  most  part 
bountifully  met ;  while  the  rarest  and  most  beautiful 
toilet  fabrics,  and  counterpanes,  and  coverlets,  such  as 
are  not  now  to  be  had  at  any  price,  were  produced  by 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  387 

her  handmaids,  assisted  by  those  of  the  neighborhood 
inheriting  the  art.  Beyond  all  question,  and  without 
regard  to  the  portion  she  brought  with  her  after  mar- 
riage, as  the  gift  of  her  father,  which  was  by  no  means 
relatively  inconsiderable,  she  maintained  by  her  active 
economy  the  pecuniary  independence  of  her  husband 
under  his  continued  public  employments,  in  an  age  of 
public  virtue,  when  the  representatives  of  the  people,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  States,  received  but  slight  remune- 
ration for  their  services,  and  when,  in  all  probability,  he 
would  have  been  otherwise  compelled  to  have  with- 
drawn from  the  public  councils,  and  to  have  relin- 
quished the  career  of  ambition  in  view  of  his  family 
necessities  and  requirements. 

Mrs.  Tyler  was  baptized  in  infancy  in  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church,  and  in  early  life  became  a  con- 
sistent communicant.  At  every  stage  of  her  existence 
she  was  pervaded  by  a  deep  religious  sentiment,  and 
the  Bible  was  her  constant  companion.  For  her 
neighborly  and  charitable  nature  she  was  proverbial. 
Although  every  one  who  knew  her  as  a  young  unmar- 
ried lady,  and  nearly  all  of  her  contemporaries  in  more 
advanced  years,  are  now  dead,  still  her  reputation  in 
these  respects  abides  among  the  living,  and  is  particu- 
larly referred  to  and  commented  upon  in  every  com- 
munication I  have  received  concerning  her,  as  well  as 
in  all  of  her  obituaries  that  I  have  read.  And  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  traits  in  her  lovely  and  almost  faultless 
character,  in  the  midst  of  all  her  mildness,  meekness,  gen- 
tleness and  amiability,  was  the  perfect  self-respect  which 
constantly  attended  her,  beating  in    unison  with  her 


3SS  LADIES    OF    TEL    WHITE    EOUSE. 

true  woman's  soul,  suffering  no  encroachment  upon  true 
propriety  and  decorum  in  her  presence,  and  sustaining 
her  dignity  as  a  Virginia  matron,  which  never  un- 
der  any  circumstances  whatever,  deserted  her — not- 
even  under  the  most  intimate  relations,  as  I  shall  \ 
entlv  discover  in  a  letter  from  one  of  L::  lona 

Indeed,  the  letters  with  which  I  have  been  fav<: : 
by  her  surviving  children,  while  confirming  all  of  my 
impressions  previously  received,  and  the  statements  that 
I  have  made  in  regard  to  her,   on  the.:e   points 
cially,  enable  me  to  detail  still  more  clearly  the  inner 
as  well  as  outer  life  she  led.  and  the.:  naj  cation       :  - 
touching  and  interesting  that  I  unhesitatingly  submit 
them  to  the  reader  in  preference  to  any  thing  else,  so 
far  as  they  apply.     Mrs.  Eobert  Tyler,  the  wife  of  her 
oldest  son.  thus  wrote  concerning  her,  at  her  own  home, 
in  the  bosom  of  her  own  family  in  the  old  city  of  Wil- 
iiamsburg,  Virginia,  under  the  first  impressions  she  re- 
ceived after  she  was  married  in  Pennsylvania,  to  her  ra- 
ters at  the  North. 

il  Witj.tamsetieg.  Yq5^ia.  October,  1SS9. 

s     *     ::;     ••  The  bridal  festivities  ao  profanely 

tended  to  us  in  Charles  City,  that  moai  hospil  tble  of 

counties,  ended  last  week.  My  honey-moon  has 
waned,  and  I  have  at  la?:  settled  down  at  home.  I:  I 
can  ever  learn  to  think  any  place  a  home  where  raj 
own  dear  father  and  sisters  are  not,  I  certainly  can  do 
so  here,  for  a  new  father  and  mother  have  opened  their 
arms  and  their  hearts  to  me;  new  and  loveiy  nstera 
cluster  around  me ;  and  I  am  welcomed  and  appr : 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  389 

of  by  any  number  of  uncle?,  aunts,  and  cousins.  The 
introduction  to  all  of  them  was  an  awful  ordeal  to  go 
through,  you  may  be  sure,  but  it  is  happily  over,  and 
I  have  now  settled  myself  down  absolutely  as  one  of 
;he  family.  I  know  you  want  me  to  tell  you  of  each 
separate  member,  and  of  the  house,  and  all  my  sur- 
roundings. 

"You  know  how  entirely  charming  Mr.  Tylers 
father  is,  for  you  saw  him  at  my  wedding  in  Bristol, 
but  you  cannot  imagine  the  tenderness  and  kindness 
with  which  he  received  me,  his  'new  daughter,'  as  he 
called 'me.  Mr.  Tyler's  mother  is  very  much  as  I  im- 
agined her,  from  his  description.  She  must  have  been 
very  beautiful  in  her  youth,  for  she  is  still  beautiful 
now  in  her  declining  years  and  wretched  health.  Her 
skin  is  as  smooth  and  soft  as  a  baby's  ;  she  has  sweet 
loving  black  eyes,  and  her  features  are  delicately 
moulded  ;  besides  this,  her  feet  and  hands  are  perfect ; 
and  she  is  gentle  and  graceful  in  her  movements,  with 
a  most  peculiar  air  of  native  refinement  about  every 
thing  she  says  and  does.  She  is  the  most  entirely  unself- 
ish person  you  can  imagine.  I  do  not  believe  she  ever 
thinks  of  herself.  Her  whole  thought  and  affections 
are  wrapped  up  in  her  husband  and  children ;  and  I 
thank  God  I  am  numbered  with  those  dear  children, 
and  can  partake  with  them  in  the  blessing  of  her  love. 
May  He  give  me  grace  to  be  ever  a  kind  and  loving 
daughter  to  her.  * 

St********  * 

M  The  house  is  very  large  an*l  very  airy  and  pleas- 
ant, fronting  on  a  large  lawn  and  surrounded  by  a 


390  LADIES    OF    THE    WIIITE    HOUSE. 

most  beautiful  garden.  The  parlor  is  comfortably  fur- 
nished,  aud  Las  that  homelike  and  occupied  look  which 
is  so  nice.  The  prettiest  thing  in  it,  to  my  taste, 
thouo-h  very  old-fashioned,  is  the  paper  upon  the  walls, 
which  depicts  in  half  life-size  pictures  the  adventures 
of  Telemachus  on  Calypso's  enchanted  Isle.  Telema- 
chus  is  very  handsome,  Calypso  and  her  nymphs  as 
graceful  as  possible ;  and  old  Mentor  as  disagreeable 
and  stern  as  all  Mentors  usually  are.  I  find  something 
new  in  the  paper  every  day,  and  love  to  study  it.  The 
dining-room  is  opposite  the  parlor,  across  a  broad  pas- 
sage, kept  too  bright  and  shiny  almost  to  step  upon, 
and  is  also  a  very  spacious  room,  with  a  great  deal  of 
old  family  silver  adorning  the  sideboard,  and  some 
good  pictures  upon  the  walls.  There  are  two  other 
rooms  behind  the  parlor  and  the  dining-room,  one  of 
which  is  used  as  a  sitting  and  reading  room,  for  it  is  a 
large  double  house,  flanked  by  offices  in  the  yard  in 
which  the  library  is  kept,  and  one  of  which  is  used  for 
law  and  business  purposes  by  Mr.  Tyler's  father  and 
himself. 

"  The  room  in  the  main  dwelling  furthest  removed 
and  most  retired  is  '  the  chamber,'  as  the  bedroom  of 
the  mistress  of  the  house  is  always  called  in  Virginia. 
This  last,  to  say  nothing  of  others,  or  of  the  kitch- 
en, store-rooms  and  pantries,  is  a  most  quiet  and  com- 
fortable retreat,  with  an  air  of  repose  and  sanctity 
about  it ;  at  least  I  feel  it  so,  and  often  seek  refuge  here 
from  the  company,  and  beaux,  and  laughing  and  talk- 
ing of  the  other  parts *)f  the  house;  for  here  mother, 
with  a  smile  of  welcome  on  her  sweet,  calm  face,  is  al- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  391 

ways  found  seated  on  her  large  arm-chair  with  a  small 
stand  by  her  side,  which  holds  her  Bible  and  her  pray- 
er-book— the  only  books  she  ever  reads  now — with  her 
knitting  usually  in  her  hands,  always  ready  to  sympa- 
thize with  me  in  any  little  home-sickness  which  may 
disturb  me,  and  to  ask  me  questions  about  all  you  dear 
ones  in  Bristol,  because  she  knows  I  want  to  talk  about 
you.  Notwithstanding  her  very  delicate  health,  moth- 
er attends  to  and  regulates  all  the  household  affairs, 
and  all  so  quietly  that  you  can't  tell  when  she  does  it. 
All  the  clothes  for  the  children,  and  for  the  servants, 
are  cut  out  under  her  immediate  eye,  and  all  the  sew- 
ing is  personally  superintended  by  her.  All  the  cake, 
jellies,  custards,  and  we  indulge  largely  in  them,  ema- 
nate from  her,  yet  you  see  no  confusion,  hear  no  bustle, 
but  only  meet  the  agreeable  result.  *  * 
*  *  *  *  AH  Mr.  Tyler's  sisters  are  lovely  and 
sweet.  Sister  Mary — Mrs.  Jones,  who  is  the  oldest  of 
all — I  have  already  introduced  you  to  in  my  letter  from 
Charles  City,  where  she  resides,  at  '  Woodburn,'  one 
of  the  plantations  or  '  farms'  as  they  are  called  here, 
of  her  husband,  and  where  she  so  happily  eutertained 
us  recently.  Next  comes  Letitia,  Mrs.  Semple,  mar- 
ried last  February.  She  is  very  handsome  and  full  of 
life  and  spirits.  She  has  a  place  called  '  Cedar  Hill,' 
some  distance  from  Williamsburg,  in  New  Kent  county, 
but  is  now  here  on  a  visit.  Then  come3  Elizabeth,  a 
very  great  belle  here,  though  she  is  not  yet  seventeen. 
She  is  remarkably  sweet  and  pretty,  with  beautiful 
eyes  and  complexion,  and  her  hair  curled  down  her 
neck.     John,  who  is  next  to  Mr.  Tyler  in   age,   and 


392  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

who  was  at  my  wedding,  and  therefore  needs  no  de- 
scription, is  not  here  now,  but  he  and  his  wife  will 
spend  next  winter  with  his  father,  as  he  still  attends 
the  law  department  and  higher  scientific  courses  of 
William  and  Mary'  college,  as  it  is  termed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  original  charter  of  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary,  although  it  is  now  and  has  been  for  many 
years  a  university. 

"  I  have  not  seen  her  yet,  but  hear  that  she  is  very 
beautiful.  The  two  younger  children,  Alice  and  Taze- 
well, make  up  the  fainrly.  *  The  children, 
with  all  the  rest  of  the  family,  seem  very,  very  fond 
of  me,  but  you  must  not  suppose  that  all  this  affection 
and  kindness  makes  me  vain.  It  is  very  comforting 
and  sweet,  but  I  know  they  all  love  me  from  no  merit 
of  my  own,  but  from  the  devotion  the  whole  family 
feel  for  Mr.  Tyler,  who  is  idolized  by  his  parents,  and 
profoundly  loved  and  respected  by  his  brothers  and 
sisters."* 

*  The  ancient  Tylers  of  Virginia,  of  whom  bnt  few  are  left  in  the 
State,  were  from  a  younger  branch  of  the  Tylers  of  Shropshire,  in  Wa^es, 
bordering  on  England.  John  and  Henry,  brothers,  came  to  Virginia  in 
;he  beginning  of  the  settlement,  and  finally  took  np  their  abode  in  the 
'*MiJdle  Plantations''  between  Jamestown  and  Yorktown,  in  1636. 

President  Tyler  was  the  fifth  John  from  the  first  of  the  name.  The 
older  line  in  Shropshire,  now  divided,  still  maintain  their  status  there, 
represented  by  the  present  Sir  Charles,  son  of  the  late  Sir  William.  The 
Tylers  of  the  Xorth  have  never  been  able  to  trace  any  connection  or 
common  origin  with  those  of  Virginia,  either  in  tbeir  correspondence 
with  the  first  Governor  Tyler,  or  with  President  Tyler ;  but  of  recent 
years  many  have  poured  into  Eastern  Virginia,  and  some  have  now  pur- 
chased estates  that  formerly  belonged  to  the  ancient  Virginia  family. 
History  in  the  future  will  doubtless,  under  these  circumstances,  become 
confused  on  the  subject. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  393 

Mrs.  Letitia  Seraple,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  her 
brother  at  Washington,  and  which  he  has  kindly  placed 
at  my  disposal,  thus  writes : — 

"Nob.  3T  &  39  Mount  Vernon  Place,  ) 
"  Baltimobe,  March  27th,  1869.      ) 

*  *  *  *  *  *  "  It  is  a  sad  truth, 
but  I  know  of  no  one  now  alive  who  remembers  my 
mother  in  her  youth.  As  late  as  1861,  there  were 
several  who  had  known  her  from  infancy,  but  now  they 
are  all  gone.  We  have  not  an  uncle,  or  an  aunt,  of  all 
0'ir  once  numerous  family,  left  on  earth.  The  early 
portion  of  her  life  must  be  gleaned  from  the  little  in- 
cidents we,  her  children,  may  remember  to  have 
been  recited  concerning  her,  by  those  now  dead.  Apart 
from  ourselves,  there  are  those  who  may  recall  some- 
thing of  her  married  life,Tbut  these  have  been  scattered 
by  the  events  of  the  war  far  and  wide  asunder.  Her 
character  was  so  unobtrusive,  and  her  personal  deport- 
ment was  so  little  influenced  by  a  desire  to  shine  be- 
fore the  public  eye,  that  those  alone  best  knew  her 
who  were  intimately  associated  with  the  family  as  near 
relatives,  or  as  private  friends.  Our  older  and  two 
younger  sisters  are  dead ;  our  elder  brother,  and  one 
younger,  the  one  driven  by  the  relentless  fates  to  Ala- 
bama, and  the  other  to  California,  and  you,  the  sport 
of  a  similar  fatality,  together  with  myself,  may  recol- 
lect many  little  things  sacred  to  filial  devotion.  The 
beautiful  affection  ever  manifested  toward  her  by  every 
member  of  the  family — by  her  uncles  and  her  aunts, 
by  her  sisters  and  her  brothers,  her  nephews  and  her 


394  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

nieces,  and  by  her  cousins,  male  and  female — by  all. 
without  exception — we  know  of,  and  can  speak  to  tlie 
fact.  It  was  with  each  one  of  them  the  unadulterated 
affection  of  the  heart  for  piety,  purity,  and  goodness. 
There  was  nothing  else  to  attract  it,  for  their  mere 
worldly  circumstances  were,  in  every  direction,  fully 
equal  to  her  own,  and  in  many  instances  superior  in 
affluence  to  those  she  enjoyed.  Nothing  could  have 
exceeded  the  devotional  regard  of  her  sister  Anna,  the 
owner  of  the  paternal  estate  of  Cedar  Grove,  and  who 
in  addition  to  her  own  inheritance,  had  derived  a  large 
fortune  by  marriage  and  the  earl}7  death  of  her  hus- 
band, Mr.  Savage.  And  I  have  often  heard  aunt  Eliza- 
beth Douglas,  her  oldest  sister,  speak  of  her  obedient 
disposition  and  truthfulness  as  a  child,  and  of  her  al- 
most surpassing  beauty,  grace,  elegance,  and  refinement 
in  riper  years.  We  ourselves  know  how  exemplary 
a  wife  and  mother  she  was.  One  of  the  earliest  me- 
mories I  have  of  her  is,  that  she  taught  me  my  letters 
out  of  the  family  Bible.  Over  and  often  can  I  recall 
her  with  a  book  in  her  lap,  reading  and  reflecting, 
while  her  fingers  were  knitting  or  stitching  for  some 
of  us ;  or  wThile  watching  over  us  until  a  late  hour  of 
the  night,  in  the  absence  of  our  father  upon  his  public 
duties. 

"  Yon  know  that  these  days  of  our  childhood  were 
days  of  struggle  with  our  father,  under  heavy  security 
obligations,  and  she  had  but  one  idea  apart  from  con- 
jugal piety  and  affection,  and  that  was  to  save  him 
from  every  care  and  every  expense  in  her  power. 

M  His  pecuniary  independence  was  preserved,  and 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  395 

much  of  his  success  was  secured,  through  her  economy, 
her  diligence,  her  providence,  and  her  admirable  self 
sacrificing  demeanor.  I  have  frequently  heard  oui 
father  say  that  he  rarely  failed  to  consult  her  judgment 
in  the  midst  of  difficulties  and  troubles,  and  that  she 
invariably  led  him  to  the  best  conclusion,  and  that  he 
had  never  known  her  to  speak  unkindly  of  any  one. 
She  was  permitted  to  see  him  fill  the  highest  office  in 
the  gift  of  his  country,  but  before  he  was  suffered  to 
enter  into  his  rest  from  political  life,  she  had  gone  to 
that  rest  remaining  for  the  people  of  God.  She  died, 
as  you  know,  on  the  10th  September,  1842,  in  the 
Executive  Mansion  at  Washington,  where  her  third 
daughter,  our  sister  Elizabeth  Waller,  had  been  short- 
ly before  married,  and  where  two  of  her  grandchildren 
now  living, — the  oldest  daughter  of  our  brother  Rob- 
ert, named  Letitia,  and  the  youngest  son  of  our  sister 
Mary,  named  Robert,  were  born. 

"  You  remember  her  fondness  for  flowers.  Her  fa- 
vorite flower  was  the  monthly  damask  rose,  and  that 
brought  in  to  her  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of  her 
death,  was  found  clasped  in  her  hand  when  the  spirit 
was  fled.  From  the  time  that  she  had  been  first 
stricken  by  paralysis,  her  health  had  been  frail,  but 
none  of  us  anticipated  an  immediate,  or  even  an  early 
renewal  of  the  attack,  and  far  less  a  sudden  dissolu- 
tion of  her  system ;  and  I  had  closed  my  last  visit  to 
her  only  a  few  days  before,  and  had  gone  to  '  Cedar 
Grove '  to  inform  aunt  Anne  of  the  condition  in  which 
I  had  left  her,  as  if  the  sad  Fates  had  carried  me  there 
to  be  ready  to  receive  her  remains,  returning  to  the  . 

v  7  O 


396  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

place  of  their  birth  to  repose,  in  their  separation  from- 
her  husband,  by  the  side  of  those  of  her  father  and 
her  mother,  as  when  first  quickened  into  life ;  but  our 
sister  Elizabeth  Waller,  and  our  aunt  Elizabeth  Doug- 
las, were  with  her,  and  witnessed  her  last  breath,  and 
they  told  me  this  particularly  sweet  circumstance  of 
her  favorite  rose  still  clinging  to  her  hand  in  death. 

"  Aunt  Betsy,  moreover,  said  that  '  all  appearance 
of  age  vanished  from  her  features,  and  she  looked  as 
she  did  at  nineteen,  and  that  death  itself  had  left  on 
her  only  the  beautiful.' 

"  I  will  endeavor  to  procure  from  her  portrait  by 
Cook,  taken  while  father  was  Governor  of  Virginia,  a 
correct  picture  for  the  engraving  desired  by  Mrs. 
Hollo  way  for  the  proposed  sketch  of  her  life ;  and  I 
herewith  send  you  the  elegiac  Ijnes  heretofore  men- 
tioned, published  in  the  Baltimore  Sun,  and  attributed 
to  Mr.  Eppes  Sargent  at  the  time.  This  may  possibly  be 
a  mistake,  but  you  doubtless  recollect  that,  about  that 
period,  Mr.  Sargent,  Mr.  Ley,  Mr.  Thomas,  Mr.  Irving, 
and  many  others  well  known  among  the  literary  celeb- 
rities of  the  country,  were  not  veiy  unfrequent  visit- 
ors to  our  drawing-rooms  at  the  White  House,  and 
that  Mr.  Irving  and  Mr.  Ley  were  appointed  ministers 
abroad,  while  other  official  favors  were  distributed 
among  them  in  acknowledgment  of  their  acquirements 
and  merits,  although,  if  my  memory  serves  me  right, 
Mr.  Sargent  was  not  so  favored." 

Major  John  Tyler,  in  the  course  of  his  letters  ad 
.  dressed  to  me  from  Washington  City,  during  the  month 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  397 

of  April,  in  relation  to  this  subject,  speaking  of  the 
first  written  communication  from  his  father  to  his 
mother  already  given  to  the  reader,  and  in  respect  to 
the  associated  memories  it  recalls  to  him,  says: 

"  This  letter  brings  up  vividly  before  me  reminis- 
cences of  the  personal  deportment  of  my  mother  and 
father  toward  each  other,  so  delicate  and  guarded  as 
never  to  depart  from  mutual  respect,  or  from  self-re- 
spect, and  yet  with  affection  always  in  the  ascendant. 
One  of  the  most  admirable  exhibitions  of  demeanor  as 
a  portraiture  of  character  at  all  points, — as  evidencing 
the  sense  of  propriety  and  the  sense  of  self-respect, 
combined  wdth  true  womanly  modesty,  while  manifest- 
ing womanly  love, — deep,  abiding,  exalted,  admiring 
love — was  that  shown  on  certain  occasions  on  the  part 
of  my  mother,  and  which  I  shall  never  forget ;  which, 
the  nioie  I  have  seen  of  individual  human  life,  and 
the  usual  ways  of  the  world,  the  more  I  have  been 
charmed  by  its  contemplation ;  until  now  it  has  be- 
come a  memory  I  would  not  exchange  for  all  the 
wealth  and  powers  of  the  empires  of  earth.  It  dis- 
played itself  under  the  following  circumstances,  and 
to  be  properly  understood  and  appreciated,  the  preface, 
though  somewhat  tedious  perhaps,  must  be  given. 

"You  have  already  seen  from  my  last  communica- 
tion and  its  enclosures,  that  my  father  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  wdien  married  to  my  mother,  had  been 
three  times  elected  to  the  State  Legislature.  It  mio;ht 
have  been  also  stated  that  he  had  already  acquired 
an  extensive  legal  practice,  and  that  he  was  rising 
rapidly  upon  the  heels  of  his  father  in  the  general  es- 


398  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

teem  of  the  public  for  both  ability  and  eloquence, 
Two  years  after  his  marriage  with  my  mother,  having 
been  returned  five  times  to  the  State  Legislature,  rare- 
ly losing  the  vote  of  an  elector  in  his  county,  he  was 
elevated,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  by  the  popular  vote, 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  over  Mr.  Andrew 
Stevenson,  late  speaker  of  the  House  and  Minister  to 
England,  the  favored  candidate  of  the  Newspaper  Press 
and  of  the  Richmond  Junto,  although  both  stood  in 
the  contest  on  the  same  political  platform.  He  was 
returned  three  times  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  the  Congress,  overcoming  at  length  all  opposi- 
tion in  the  Richmond  district.  After  this,  resigning 
from  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  immediately 
made  one  of  the  Counsellors  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  from  that  position  he  was  elected  Governor  and 
chief  magistrate  over  the  very  able  and  justly  cele- 
brated William  B.  Giles. 

"  He  was  unanimously  reelected  to  the  same  high 
dignity.  Then  he  was  preferred  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  over  the  brilliant  and  distinguished 
John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  at  the  height  of  his  fame; 
and  after  a  service  of  six  years,  he  was  reelected  to  that 
body,  then  composed  of  statesmen  and  the  intellectual 
giants  of  the  land.  At  the  end  of  three  more  years, 
resigning  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  he  was  made  a  candi- 
date  for  the  vice-presidency  in  1836,  on  the  ticket  with 
Judge  Hugh  Lawson White,  of  Tennessee,  as  President ; 
and  again  in  1840,  on  the  ticket  with  General  William 
Henry  Harrison. 

"  Then,  through   the  death  of  Harrison,  within  a 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  399 

month  after  the   Inauguration,  he  became  the  tenth 
President  of  the  United  States. 

"  Thus,  you  will  perceive,  that  the  public  duties  of 
my  father  called  him  away  from  his  family  to  no  in- 
considerable extent ;  and  during  the  period  of  my 
mother's  life  allowed  him  but  slight  domestic  rest,  in- 
terfering, at  the  same  time,  greatly  with  his  practice  at 
the  bar,  and  impairing  his  pecuniary  fortunes ;  and 
therefore,  without  heavy  drafts  upon  his  private  credit 
that  it  would  not  have  been  prudent  to  encounter,  and 
thst  my  mothers  judgment  would  not  sanction,  it  was 
not  always  within  his  power,  merely  in  view  of  the 
small  pittance  then  paid  to  legislators  and  senators,  to 
have  his  family  with  him  at  the  seat  of  Government. 
It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  my  mother  always 
preferred  remaining  at  her  own  quiet  home,  and  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  by  her  own  fireside  with  her 
children,  her  relatives,  and  her  old  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, conscious  that  she  saved  him  from  every  avoida- 
ble expense,  for  he  was  only  enabled  to  have  her  with 
him  abroad  without  pecuniary  inconvenience,  upon 
occasional  visits  to  the  mountains  and  the  Virginia 
Springs  in  the  summer  season  strictly  for  health  ;  dur- 
ing one  session  of  the  State  Legislature,  that  when  the 
Richmond  theatre  was  burnt  and  a  mere  accident  de- 
terred him  from  going  to  witness  the  performance  with 
her,  to  have  perished  in  the  names  perhaps,  as  many 
others  did  on  that  fatal  occasion  ;  during  the  period  of 
time  that  he  was  Governor  of  Virginia :  and  during 
only  one,  or  at  most,  two  sessions  of  the  Congress,  prior 
to  his  Presidential  term.     It  was  in  vain,  that  in  view 


400  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  her  retiring  modesty  and  repugnance  to  the  public 
eye,  and  under  the  influence  of  his  domestic  attach- 
ments and  the  pressure  of  his  pecuniary  affairs,  he  pro- 
tested against  further  public  service,  and  resigned  from 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  afterward  from  the 
Senate,  entreating  peace  and  quietude  with  his  wife 
and  children.  He  was  instantly  seized  upon  again  by 
the  public,  at  each  and  every  attempt  he  made  to  re* 
tire  from  political  life,  and  forced  back  into  the  service 
of  the  country. 

"  These  were  the  circumstances,  my  dear  madam, 
that  tested  my  mother's  nature  and  qualities,  and  made 
her  virtues  shine  with  heavenly  light. 

"  It  not  only  fell  to  her  province  to  superintend  t|ie 
domestic  economy  at  home,  and  to  train  and  educate 
her  children,  but  to  bestow  no  little  attention  upon 
the  affairs  of  the  plantation,  and  to  take  care  of  and 
provide  for  the  negro  families  both  in  sickness  and 
health.  As  gentle  and  delicate  in  person  and  in  health 
as  she  always  was,  she  never  shrank  for  a  moment 
from  these  complicated,  exacting,  and  often  harassing 
duties  and  responsibilities.  Her  native  benevolence 
and  active  generosity,  combined  with  her  moral  and 
intellectual  training,  and  high  sense  of  conjugal  fidelity, 
impelled  and  sustained  her  unflinchingly,  in  the  reso- 
lute purpose  of  sustaining  her  husband  in  the  field  of 
his  arduous  labors  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  so  that 
he  should  not  sink  through  poverty,  nor  be  compelled 
to  abdicate  the  glorious  career  before  him  by  the  stern 
requirements  of  his  domestic  affairs.  Without  hesita- 
tion she  repressed  every  inclination,  if  indeed  she  ever 


LADIES    OF    TIIE    WHITE    HOUSE.  401 

entertained  the  lurking  desire,  to  play  the  role  of  the 
'fine  lady,'  as  the  English  and  Americans  have  it. 
or  that  of  '  nne  grande  daine,'  as  the  French  have  it, 
however  fitted  she  may  have  been  by  birth,  by  educa- 
tion, by  association,  by  the  elements  of  her  character 
and  by  the  grace  and  beauty  of  her  person,  to  shine  in 
the  parlor  and  in  the  saloon.  It  was,  doubtless,  in 
view  of  these  onerous  duties  devolving  ivpon  my 
mother,  and  the  immense  self-abnegation  they  requir- 
ed, that  caused  my  father  so  earnestly  to  desire  retire- 
ment from  public  life,  and  so  often  to  resign  high  poli- 
tical station.  But  the  fates  had  allotted  to  each 
an  appropriate  sphere,  the  one  the  '  helpmeet '  of  the 
other,  and  the  special  portraiture  of  my  mother,  which 
all  that  I  have  said  is  intended  amply  to  bring  out 
and  cause  to  be  properly  appreciated,  is  associated 
with  her  manner  and  bearing  at  the  reception  of  my 
father  on  his  visits  home  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Congress,  or  upon  his  return  home  after  their  close. 

"  For  the  most  of  this  period  of  her  life  I  was  but  a 
child,  it  is  true,  usually  close  to  her  knee  or  playing 
about  with  my  little  sisters,  but  so  much  the  closer 
were  my  observations  and  the  clearer  is  my  memory, 
while  additional  experience  and  knowledge  have  taught 
me  the  full  value  of  the  exquisite  delineation  of  char- 
acter contained  in  the  reminiscence.  A  thousand 
times  I  have  recalled  it  as  it  occurred  and  was  repeat- 
edly presented  before  me.  I  can  see  my  mother  now, 
as  she  would  be  seated  either  sewing,  or  knitting,  or 
reading,  when  the  voice  of  my  father  would  be  heard 
either  approaching  or  entering  the  house,  instantly  a 
26 


402  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

blush  would  mantle  her  cheek,  a  beam  of  joy  would 
irradiate  her  countenance,  the  book  or  work  would  fall 
from  her  hands,  and  she  would  bound  forward  to  meet 
him.  But,  my  dear  madam,  pause  if  you  please  ;  such 
quick,  impelling  affection,  such  untutored  manifestation 
of  joy  might  be  regarded  by  an  ardent  and  devoted 
husband  of  nice  perceptions  and  refined  taste  as  not 
altogether  consistent  with  a  proper  self-respect,  as  some- 
what deficient  in  delicacy,  as  in  a  measure  unbecom- 
ing the  modest  and  chaste  matron — the  wife  of  a  grave, 
noble,  and  lofty  Virginia  Senator.  There  should  be 
more  reserve,  there  should  be  a  waiting  to  be  sought 
for  by  him.  Immediately  following  the  first  impulsive 
movement,  these  reflections  would  flash  through  her 
mind.  I  can  see  it  all  now  understanding^,  as  I  saw 
it  then  observantly — and  before  the  door  of  the  sit- 
ting-room was  reached,  like  the  queenly  infant  rising 
in  its  charms,  described  by  the  poet,  she  would  recover 
herself,  repress  her  transport,  quietly  resume  her  seat 
■ — radiant  with  beauty — and  await  his  approach.  Then 
as  he  entered  the  room,  she  would  rise  and  receive  him 
tenderly  yet  decorously.  It  was  a  scene  upon  which  I 
can  fancy  that  angels  always  smiled  delighted.  Often, 
indeed,  do  I  remember  to  have  climbed  up  in  her  lap 
about  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  and  to  have  called 
her  '  beautiful.' " 

In  kindly  informing  me  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
Mrs.  Tyler  trained  the  minds  of  her  children,  and 
in  relation  to  the  general  ethical  system  of  educa- 
tion prevailing  in  the  family — in  every  instance  al- 
ways most  due  to  the  mother — Major  Tyler,  to  whom 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  40$ 

I  am  under  profound  obligations  for  Lis  prompt  civili- 
ties and  kind  assistance,  with  singular  interest  and 
force,  thus  writes : 

"  It  was  never  the  habit  of  our  family,  during  my 
mother's  life,  to  make  c  a  to-do '  about  any  thing  per- 
sonal to  ourselves ;  and  noisy,  fussy,  aud  arrogant  as- 
sumption and  pretension  were  always  regarded  by  us  as 
alike  indecorous,  opposed  to  good  taste,  and  violative 
of  self-respect.  The  introduction  of  such  deportment 
in  our  midst  is  altogether  at  variance  with  our  ideas  of 
decency  and  propriety.  We  have  generally  consid- 
ered it  best  to  leave  it  to  others  to  speak  to  our  merits 
while  living,  and  to  assign  to  their  proper  place  the 
virtuous  memories  of  our  dead.  Neither  my  mother 
nor  my  father  would  ever  permit  in  the  family  the 
slightest  expression  of  ancestral  pride,  though  sedulous 
in  impressing  upon  the  minds  of  all  around  them  the 
more  elevated  sentiments  and  noble  actions  of  their 
progenitor,  seeking,  as  it  were,  to  sanctify  through  the 
aid  and  quality  of  veneration  the  recollection  of  things 
worthy  of  imitation.  We  wrere  especially  taught — 
apart  from  the  common  training  of  every-day  life,  and 
the  usual  lessons  of  diligence  and  industry — that  honor 
and  fame  attach  themselves  to  no  particular  condition 
in  life  ;  that  mere  exterior  circumstances  cannot  confer 
either  real  character  or  true  respectability ;  that  a 
palace  cannot  add  to,  nor  a  log-cabin  detract  from,  sub- 
stantial worth ;  that  the  man  is  actually  within  and 
not  without ;  that  a  christianized  heart — in  respect  not 
less  to  the  individual  than  to  the  universal — a  culti- 
vated mind  ;  the  refinement  of  the  sentiments,  the  feel- 


404  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ings  and  the  affections,  the  conscientious  performance 
of  duty  as  defined  in  the  commandments  of  God  and 
Christ  and  explained  by  St.  Paul,  and  reverence  for 
the  laws,  together  with  gentle  manners  and  delicate 
courtesies,  were  incomparably  preferable  to  wealth, 
official  dignities,  and  worldly  displays ;  that  wealth  it- 
self, though  a  great  blessing  when  directed  to  proper, 
laudable,  and  gracious  ends,  should  never  be  viewed  in 
any  stroDger  light  than  as  a  secondary  object,  and 
never  be  pursued  as  a  primary  consideration.  These 
were,  in  fact,  the  intelligent  ideas  pervading  the  civili- 
zation under  which  my  mother  was  born  and  reared, 
and  which,  doubtless,  led  her  to  solid  good  sense  and 
beneficence. 

"This  civilization  constituted,  I  verily  believe,  the 
purest  form  of  social  and  political  Christianity  evei 
yet  vouchsafed  on  earth  to  the  children  of  men.  I  find 
in  history  no  example  of  such  perfection  in  the  Cau- 
casian family,  and  it  was  to  be  found  nowhere  else  so 
complete  as  within  the  limits  of  the  '  Ancient  Com- 
monwealth, and  Dominion  of  Virginia.'  It  was  the 
result  of  the  throes  and  agonies  of  the  human  race 
through  countless  centuries,  and  it  was  established  by 
our  forefathers  on  the  wisdom  of  all  the  experiences 
of  the  known  past.  To  say  nothing  of  the  great  men, 
the  great  declaration  of  rights,  the  great  superstruc- 
ture of  freedom,  and  the  great  union  of  states  under 
an  incomparable  constitution  of  fundamental  law,  to 
be  preserved  inviolate  as  the  guardian  of  justice,  lib- 
erty, and  happiness  that  it  had  given  to  the  continent 
and  the  world ;  but  to  look  narrowly  to  itself  alone, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  405 

within  its  own  limits,  and  to  judge  it  by  its  fruits  there 
solely,  it  had  originated  a  populous  and  extensive  com- 
munity   covering    many    thousand    square   miles,    so 
grounded  in  charity  and  urbanity,  benevolence  and 
generosity,  that  even  their  negro  slaves  had  been  re- 
deemed from  African  cannibalism  to  a  hio-h  condition 
of  moral   and   even   intellectual   enlightenment,    and 
were  better  cared  for  and  more  contented  than  any 
other  manual  laboring  class  of  the  same  numbers  upon 
the  globe.     In  which  open-house  hospitality  was  uni- 
versal among  the  inhabitants,  and  lochs  and  keys  were 
scarcely  deemed  necessary  to  the  protection  and  safe- 
keeping of  property  of  any  kind.     Wherein  no  malign 
or  inimical  feeling  existed  toward  others,  either  of 
rivalling  interests  or  of  envious  jealousy,  so  that,  in  the 
happy  consciousness  that  all  wTere  prosperous  in  the 
land,  they  could  not  be  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
ill-will,   hatred,   and    wrong  were  being   entertained 
toward   themselves   until   too   late  to  guard   against 
atrocity  and  calamity.     And   among   whom,   in   the 
almost  total  absence  of  pauperism  and  crime,  tenable 
jails  and  poor  asylums  were  rarely  to  be  seen ;  and  such 
other  indications  of  wretchedness  and  depravity  as 
abound  elsewhere,  masked  by  sentimental  pretension, 
were  not  to  be  discovered.     In  the  midst  of  all  that 
we  have  suffered  in  our  persons  and  in  our  estates 
since  the  advent  of  the  sword  and  that  rule  over  pub- 
lic affairs  which  has  swept  lawlessly  through  the  private 
concerns  and  domestic  relations  of  the  people  in  the 
states  once  sovereign  and  independent,  there  is  nothing 
I  regret  so  much  as  the  subversion  of  a  society  so 


406  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

attractive,  and  a  civilization  so  admirable,  to  make  room 
for  a  system  in  its  place  that  has  engendered,  is  engen 
dering,  and  can  only  engender,  vice  and  immorality 
and  breed  rottenness  and  corruption,  until  the  very  clay 
itself,  as  of  old  in  the  days  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets, 
'  shall  vomit  out  its  foul  and  bestial  possessors. 
The  profound  historians  and  statesmen  of  Virginia 
knew  well,  my  dear  madam,  that  the  materialistic  sys- 
tem of  life,  now  denominated  'Progress,1  had  been 
tried  and  tested,  time  and  again,  before  the  advent  of 
the  Christian  Dispensation,  under  various  philosophi- 
cal theories,  both  religious  and  political,  at  Babylon 
and  Nineveh,  in  Medea  and  Persia,  at  Sidon  and  Tyre, 
in  Egypt  and  Palestine,  at  Alexandria,  in  Lydia,  at 
Carthage,  in  Greece,  and  again  at  Rome,  invariably 
ending:  in  the  same  result — in  the  lust  of  lucre  as  the 
instrument  of  depravity,  and  in  the  worship  of  Mam- 
mon as  the  divinity  of  sin ;  dethroning  the  virtues  and 
humanities,  God  and  the  Redeemer,  and  at  length  ter- 
minating in  the  general  lunacy  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
leading  to  strife,  contention,  decimating  wars,  the  de- 
struction of  the  peaceful  arts,  pestilence  and  famine, 
and  the  final  obliteration  of  the  wicked  and  putrid 
people. 

"  All  the  education  and  learning  I  possess  thai  I 
esteem  valuable  and  worthy  to  be  treasured,  I  may  say 
I  derived  from  my  mother.  It  was  through  her  teach- 
ings that  I  became  finally  impressed  with  the  vast 
ethical  superiority  of  the  internal  over  the  external 
relations  attendant  upon  our  existence,  and  with  the 
preference  that  should  be  accorded  to  the  '  ab  intra  ad 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  40? 

extra'  or  spiritualistic  system  of  philosophy,  over  the 
"ah  extra  ad  intra;  or  materialistic  system ;  the  first 
being  that  of  Christ,  and  the  last  that  of  '  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil.'     It  was  through  her  teachings 
that  I  was   led  finally  to  perceive  that  we  are  the 
'Temple;'  that  the   realm  of  'Heaven'   and  that  of 
'  Hell '  is  that  of  our  own  existence  here,  now  and 
hereafter ;  that  the  '  angels,'  or  the  virtuous  qualities 
and  affections  of  the  mind  and  heart,  guide  and  direct 
us  to  '  Heaven,'  or  happiness,  and  that  the  '  devils,'  or 
our  passions,  desires,  and  appetites,  indulged  and  unre- 
strained, carry  us  down  to  '  Hell,'  or  to  miseiy  and 
woe  ;  that  the  first  are  the  '  ministers '  of  the  '  Savior,' 
and  the  last  the  '  servants '  of  '  Satan ; '  that  the  '  Sav- 
ior  within   us'   can  only  be  conceived  by  a  'Holy 
Spirit,'  and  when  '  incarnated,'  must  be  '  born '  from 
the  gestation  of  'immaculate'  affections,  'uncontam- 
inated'   desires,  and   unadulterated   passions;    or,  in 
other  words,  from  the  chastened  and  purified,  or  the 
'  virgin '  soul.     And  it  was  through  her  teachings  that 
the  great  mysteries  of  the  Bible  and  of  our  faith  as 
disciples  of  God  and  Christ— of  the  <  Conception,'  the 
'  Birth,'  the  '  Disputation  in  the  Temple,'  the  '  Agony 
in  the  Garden,'  the  'Bearing  of  the  Cross,'  the  'Death 
by  Crucifixion,'  the  'Burial,'  the  'Resurrection,'  the 
'Ascension,'  and  the  '  Judgment,'— following  that  of 
i  Jacob's  Ladder,'  together  with  the  wonderful  '  Ser- 
mon,' and  the  lessons  of  the  'Parables,'  following  the 
'Ten  Commandments,'— were  in  some   measure  ulti- 
mately revealed  to  my  comprehension,  as  containing 
the  essence  of  all  wisdom,  of  all  truth,  and  of  all  vir- 


40S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

tue,  applicable  to  the  harmony  of  our  nature,  and  to 
the  peace  and  contentment  of  our  being." 

~  «  &  jSf  *  * 

In  transmitting  to  me  the  letter  of  his  sister  that  I 
have  already  transcribed,  containing  the  elegiac  lines 
taken  from  the  Baltimore  Sun  and  attributed  to  Ma*. 
Sargent,  and  in  sending  me  at  the  same  time  the  obit- 
uary notices  that  appeared  on  the  occasion  of  his 
mother's  death,  in  the  Washington  journals,  Major 
Tyler,  in  particular  reference  to  the  allusions  made  in 
both  to  her  charitable  and  benign  nature  and  hospita- 
ble disposition,  thus  again  writes,  first  with  explana- 
tory remarks,  and  then  narrating  illustrative  incidents 
it  were  unpardonable  not  to  insert. 

"It  gives  me  pleasure,  my  dear  madam,  to  trans- 
mit to  you  a  letter  from  my  only  living  sister,  con- 
taining elegiac  lines  on  my  mother,  taken  from  the 
Baltimore  Sun,  and  attributed  to  the  late  Mr.  Epes 
Sargent,  and  I  also  send  you  the  obituaries  that  ap- 
peared at  the  time  of  her  death  in  the  Washington 
journals.  Many  similar  notices  might  be  gathered 
from  the  public  press  of  the  country,  written  on  the 
occasion,  without  the  slightest  instrumentality  of  any 
member  of  the  family,  but  I  have  no  means  of  reach- 
ing them  now  by  the  day  fixed  upon  for  your  publica- 
tion. I  had  nearly  all  of  them  once,  carefully  arranged, 
but  the  same  merciless  hand  robbed  me  of  them  that 
despoiled  me  of  her  grave.  A  word  of  explanation  is 
necessary  in  regard  to  the  lines  and  paragraphs  sent, 
after  which  I  will  narrate  such  little  incidents  as  are 
called  up  at  the  moment  by  those  given  by  my  sister, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  409 

trivial,  it  is  time,  "but  they  may  serve  you,  perhaps,  in 
your  proposed:  task. 

"The  National  Intelligencer,  the  Daily  Globe, 
and  the  Madisonian  were  the  only  newspapers  pub- 
lished in  Washington  when  my  mother  died.  After 
many  inquiries  and  much  diligent  search,  I  found  the 
volumes  of  each,  in  different  directions,  wade  apart,  for 
the  year  1842.  The  first  was  the  central  organ  of  the 
'  Whig  party,'  then  headed  by  Henry  Clay,  playing  a 
northern  game  for  the  succession,  bitterly  in  opposition 
to  my  father  and  his  administration.  The  second  was 
the  central  organ  of  the  '  Democratic  party,'  then  still 
headed  by  Mr.  Van  Buren,  notwithstanding  his  strong 
consolidation  and  abolition  tendencies,  and  consequent- 
ly almost  as  hostile  to  my  father  as  the  first.  The 
third  was  the  central  organ  of  the  small  remnant  of 
the  old  '  Jeffersonian  State-Rights  Republican  party' 
remaining  in  the  country,  still  struggling  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  our  constitutional  system  of  govern- 
ment, with  all  its  guarantees  to  the  people  and  the 
States,  consisting  of  those  who,  in  1824,  had  sustained 
Mr.  Crawford  for  the  Presidency,  refusing  to  go  into 
either  of  the  new  organizations  that  then  were  formed 
under  Jackson  and  Adams,  and  who,  in  1836,  had 
again  put  in  the  field,  against  the  proclamation  and 
Force  Bill  of  General  Jackson,  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent ticket — that  of  White  and  Tyler.  These  last 
alone,  under  the  circumstances,  gave  support  to  the 
administration  making  a  last  effort  to  restore  the  gov- 
ernment to  its  ancient  landmarks  without  war,  and 
hence    the    Madisonian    came  to  be  regarded  as  its 


410  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

organ,  though  my  father  then,  as  at  all  times  previous- 
ly,  held  all  mere  partisan  journals,  as  well  as  all  mere 
partisan  politicians,  in  proper  sovereign  contempt, 
preferring  the  pursuit  of  that  which  was  just,  truthful, 
and  honest  in  itself,  and  consequently  right  to  be  done, 
to  all  meretricious  fame  and  popular  applause. 

"  I  presume  the  reason  why  the  Madisonian  was 
the  last  of  the  three  papers  to  publish  an  obituary, 
apart  from  the  very  commendable  motive  of  the  editor 
to  gather  up  all  the  facts  necessary  to  a  somewhat 
elaborate  notice,  was  the  result  of  a  delicate  policy  to 
ascertain  first  what  was  said  by  Mr.  Gales,  of  the  In- 
telligencer, and  by  Mr.  Blair,  of  the  Globe. 

a  Party  feeling  ran  high  and  was  furiously  denun- 
ciatory, not  scrupling,  especially  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Clay's  scavengers,  to  resort  to  vilification,  slander,  and 
detraction  personally,  in  regard  to  any  member  of  the 
family  where  it  could  affect  the  President,  so  that  many 
honest  people  even  felt  it  prudent  to  abstain  from 
commendation  where  they  positively  felt  it  to  be  su- 
premely due.  In  fact,  the  situation  and  the  course  of 
our  enemies  were  never  paralleled  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  except  in  regard  to  President  Johnson,  who 
has  therefore  had  my  profoundest  sympathy ;  and  in 
their  ultimate  results  upon  the  country,  through  the 
unwise  charges  of  policy  afterward  introduced,  the 
two  will  not  prove  very  unlike  in  the  permanent  ad- 
justment of  vexed  questions  threatening  the  public 
peace,  though  my  father,  battling  almost  siugle-handed, 
as  Mr.  Johnson  also  did,  left  his  antagonists  lying  dead 
beyond  the  hope  of  recovery,  and  handed  down  the 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  411 

succession  to  a  new  line  of  Presidents  who,  by  a  course 
of  similar  firmness  and  sagacity,  might  have  preserved 
liberty  and  saved  the  Republic. 

"  And  now,  my  dear  madam;  permit  me  to  recur  to 
the  little  incidents  associated  partly  with  my  mothers 
life,  and  partly  with  her  death,  that  have  been  recalled 
by  Mrs.  Semple's  letter,  and.  by  some  of  the  allusions 
in  the  lines  of  Mr.  Sargent  and  in  the  obituaries,  for 
I,  too,  remember  many  things  that  the  heart  may  cher- 
ish, though  the  biographer  might  prefer  to  pass  them 
by  unnoticed.  Such  incidents,  however,  constitute  the 
sum  of  life,  and  should  not  be  forgotten  after  death. 

a  It  was  my  task  to  take  her  out,  in  some  light  car- 
riage, upon  her  rounds  of  charity  among  the  sick  and  *• 
afflicted  of  her  neighborhood.  She  would,  on  these 
occasions,  first  recall  the  names  and  localities  of  all  in- 
dividuals and  families  that  she  had  learned  to  be  in 
want,  in  distress,  or  ill,  and  requiring  a  nursing  hand. 
Then  she  would  store  in  baskets,  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  light 
bread,  and  delicate  provisions  and  preserves,  together 
with  proper  medicines ;  and  with  me  as  her  coachman 
and  guide,  she  would  start  on  her  mission. 

"I  was  young,  quite  young,  it  is  true,  but  was  an 
active  fellow ;  could  handle  a  light  bird-gun  smartly, 
and  knew  the  neighborhood  as  well  as  a  country  school- 
boy at  the  south  generally  does — that  is  to  say,  within 
a  range  of  five  miles  from  the  school-house,  there  was 
scarcely  a  chestnut  tree,  or  chinquapin  bush,  or  wild 
grape  bearing  vine,  with  which  I  was  not  familiar.  She 
invariably  entered  the  house  or  hut  in  person,  how- 
ever humble  and  poor  the  inmates  and  whatever  the 


412  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

form  of  sickness,  and  her  words  and  manner  were  al 
ways  as  comforting  as  lier  food  and  medicines  and  bev- 
erages were  healing  and  nourishing.  I  never  knew 
her  in  conversation,  under  any  circumstances,  not  even 
in  the  presence  of  the  clergyman  of  her  parish,  to  al 
hide  to  these  habitual  benevolences.  In  fact,  even  in 
the  family  it  was  more  frequently  supposed  she  had 
merely  'gone  an  airing'  than  otherwise. 

"  There  is  a  trifle  that  rests,  I  believe,  alone  in  my 
memory,  and  the  seal  upon  which  I  have  never  broken  ; 
but  which,  trifling  as  it  may  be  regarded,  well  illus- 
trates the  conscientious  impulsion  of  her  nature  to  acts 
of  kindness.  On  one  occasion,  during  my  father's  ab- 
sence on  public  duty,  about  twilight,  on  a  very  cold 
evening,  a  man  with  a  pack  on  his  back  walked  up  to 
the  front  door  of  our  residence  and  knocked.  I  answered 
his  call.  He  wished  to  be  sheltered  for  the  night  and 
asked  for  something  to  eat.  My  mother  directed  me 
at  once  to  take  him  to  the  dining-room,  where 
there  was  a  good  fire,  and  have  food  set  before  him. 
She  never  turned  away  any  such  applicants.  He  ate 
heartily  and  sat  quietly  by  the  fire,  now  and  then  ask- 
ing some  question  in  broken  English,  while  my  little 
sisters  and  myself  were  conning  over  our  lessons  for 
the  next  day.  When  the  hour  for  retiring  came,  he 
was  conducted  by  our  waiting  man,  then  styled  the 
dining-room  servant,  to  a  bed-room  and  assigned  a 
comfortable  bed.  The  next  morning,  without  waiting 
for  breakfast,  he  had  started  on  his  journey.  My  good 
mother  seemed  for  a  moment  hurt  that  he  should  have 
gone  without  his  breakfast,  but  quickly  directed  me  to 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    H0ESE.  413 

send  the  servant-man  to  her.  She  then  took  from  her 
purse  the  last  piece  of  money  she  had  left  in  the  house,  a 
silver  half-dollar,  and  dispatched  the  servant  on  horse- 
back after  the  man,  with  orders  to  catch  up  with  him 
and  give  it  to  him  to  'help  him  on  his  way,'  and  it  was 
done. 

"  The  next  incident  I  desire  to  relate  is  to  me  partic- 
ularlv  sad.  and  although  I  have  wearied  you  already 
too  much,  I  fear,  I  feel  that  I  should  mention  it. 

a  One  Sunday  morning,  the  next  after  my  mothers 
death,  having  seen  her  spirit  depart  the  evening  be- 
fore, afflicted  with  grief,  exhausted,  and  feverish,  I 
walked  out  alone  in  the  yard  around  the  south  front 
of  the  President's  Mansion,  to  breathe  the  fresh  air  and 
to  commune  with  my  own  heart.  It  was  quite  early, 
and  I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  find  that  which  I 
had  never  before  observed  in  the  gronnds,  as  they  were 
regarded  as  entirely  private  to  the  President's  family, 
save  on  stated  occasions :  numbers  of  poor  women  were 
scattered  about,  or  grouped  together,  or  walking  sor- 
rowfully alone  as  I  was  doing,  all  with  mournful  coun- 
tenances, conversing  scarcely  at  all  where  two  or  more 
were  in  company,  and  for  some  time  I  failed  to  realize 
the  purport  of  the  scene.  In  fact,  I  did  not  divine  the 
meaning  of  it  until  a  mere  accident  brought  the  dis- 
closure. I  had  not  thought  of  attributing  it  to  my 
mother's  death,  for  I  was  not  aware  that  such  special 
concern  was  felt  for  her  by  the  poorer  classes  of  the 
city.  But  in  passing  by  one  of  the  groups  listlessly 
standing  together,  some  remark  was  made  respecting 
her  death  that  caught  my  ear,  and  I  heard  the  almost 


414  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

sobbing  reply,  '  Yes,  she  is  dead,  and  the  poor  have 
lost  their  friend ! '  I  felt  that  their  words  conld  not 
have  been  intended  for  me.  They  were,  indeed,  in  a 
part  of  the  grounds  from  which  they  could  hardly  have 
seen  ine  come  from  the  President's  Mansion,  and  I  was 
too  little  known  to  be  personally  recognized  by  any  of 
them.  The  consciousness  was  forced  upon  me  that  the 
reputation  of  my  mother  for  deeds  of  charity  had  gone 
before  her,  and  that  the  good  she  had  done  lived 
after  her.  My  eyes  again  melted  in  tears,  as  I  passed 
in  review  a  multitude  of  sweet  and  tender  memories, 
and  T  returned  to  my  chamber  and  the  silence  of  sol- 
itude so  grateful  to  the  sensitive  and  weeping  soul." 

Full  and  graphic  as  these  delineations  are  of 
the  traits  that  marked  the  life  of  Mrs.  Tyler,  I  cannot 
the  less  refrain  from  addinsr  a  communication  received 
from  a  gentleman  in  Virginia,  just  as  my  pen  had 
reached  this  point.  It  is  entirely  confirmatory  of  all 
mv  preconceived  ideas  and  impressions  concerning  the 
sweet  subject  of  my  sketch,  and  rounds  off  so  com- 
pletely the  narratives  I  have  given,  that  I  should  fail 
in  justice  to  withhold  it  from  the  reader.  If  it  had  been 
purposely  directed  to  the  points  in  her  character  espe- 
cially dwelt  upon  by  her  children,  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  more  precise,  but  far  otherwise ;  he  was  sim- 
ply requested  by  Mrs.  Letitia  Semple  to  whom  it  was 
addressed,  as  having  known  her  mother  long  and  well, 
to  state  his  knowledge  and  impressions  of  her;  and  he 
did  so  without  other  information,  expressing  "  an  opin- 
ion not  recently  formed,  but  thought  of  for  years." 
It  should  be  stated  perhaps,  that  the  writer,  Mr.  John 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         415 

Tyler  Seawell,  is  one  of  the  oldest  nephews  and  mem- 
bers of  the  family  of  President  Tyler  now  alive,  and 
that,  for  the  benefit  of  his  education  and  training  both 
as  a  boy  and  man,  he  lived  much  with  his  uncle,  who 
finally  introduced  him  to  the  Bar,  since  when  he  has 
achieved  quite  an  enviable  reputation  for  himself,  hav- 
ing occupied  before,  during,  and  since  the  war,  promin- 
ent positions  in  the  State,  and  is,  of  course,  well  known 
to  a  laro-e  circle. 

"  Gloucestee  Cocet  IIouse,  April  25th,  18G9. 

*  *  *  "  I  have  a  warm  recollection  of  your 
mother  for  many  years  before  her  death,  and  I  think  I 
may  say  I  knew  her  thoroughly.  I  bad  the  fairest 
chance  to  know  her  well,  and  I  had  the  best  reasons 
to  know  her  natural  and  uniform  kindness  to  all  who 
came  within  her  sphere.  She  was,  however,  so  retiring 
in  her  nature  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  point 
out  more  than  her  general  character.  She  was  a  per- 
son of  most  excellent  mind  and  eminently  practical  in 
all  her  views.  She  was  a  person  of  the  kindest  im- 
pulses, and  her  charity  of  thought  overlooked  much  in 
others  that  was  reprehensible.  To  my  shortcomings 
she  was  always  lenient,  and  she  saved  me  many  a  scold 
from  your  father  and  others  where  I  richly  deserved  it. 
She  was  one  of  the  most  domestic  persons  I  ever  saw. 
The ' eclat '  of  your  father's  reputation  would,  of  course, 
often  force  her  into  -view,  and,  when  occasion  required 
it,  no  person  could  have  sustained  the  position  wuth 
more  ease  and  dignity  than  she  did.  But  it  was  a 
position  she  never  courted.     When  she  was  mistress 


416  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  the  Governor  s  Mansion,  at  Eichmond,  she  did  the 
honors  of  the  house  as  none  but  a  high-toned,  sensible 
southern  lady  could.  ZSTor  did  she  shrink  at  all  when 
she  felt  it  her  duty  as  your  father's  wife  to  assume  her 
proper  place.  Yet  show  and  parade  and  worldly  van- 
ities had  no  charm  for  her.  Often  and  over  have  I 
heard  your  father,  when  he  was  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  try  to  induce  her  to  spend  a  long  por- 
tion of  her  time  in  Washington ;  but  her  reply  gener- 
ally was,  that  '  she  would  feel  better  satisfied  at  home 
frith  her  children,'  and  so  she  was.  She  was  a  truly 
pious  person,  though,  as  I  have  said,  she  was  not  a  per- 
son of  great  professions  in  any  respect,  but  in  this  she 
rras  known  by  her  acts.  She  felt  always  the  keenest 
interest  in  your  fathers  reputation  and  success,  and  was 
as  proud  of  him  as  she  could  be.  Many  a  time  when 
she  knew  he  was  to  make  a  public  speech,  either  on 
the  Hustings  or  at  the  Bar,  she  has  charged  me,  if  I 
was  expected  to  be  present,  to  bring  her  a  truthful  ac- 
count of  it  and  to  tell  her  how  it  was  received.  To 
sum  up  my  knowledge  and  opinion  of  her  character  in 
a  word — a  knowledge  and  opinion  not  recently  formed 
but  thousrht  of  for  vears — she  was  a  woman  well  fitted 
by  nature  and  education  and  association  to  shine  in 
any  circle,  but  her  heart  turned  to  her  home,  her  fam- 
ily, and  a  few  friends.  They  were  all  the  world  to  her. 
With  opportunities  that  come  to  but  few,  to  take  her 
share  of  worldly  distinctions  and  employments,  she 
preferred  the  quiet  of  a  gentle  and  Christian  life  in 
the  bosom  of  her  family. 

I  fear  the  piebald  taste  of  the  present  age,  in  this 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  417 

country  will  not  relish  the  character  of  a  woman  such 
as  your  mother  was,  but  to  the  few  capable  of  appre- 
ciating properly  female  character  and  worth,  she  will 
rank  as  a  model  that  many  now  living  might  copy  with 
advantage." 

*  *  *  *  *  $        '  $  vl-  •» 

These  letters,  taken  with  the  obituaries  mentioned, 
and  the  lines  of  Mr.  Sargent,  together  with  other 
communications  descriptive  of  the  daily  social  routine 
in  the  "  White  House"  at  this  epoch,  which  remain  to 
be  submitted  and  cannot  fail  to  interest,  leave  but  lit- 
tle necessary  to  fill  out  and  perfect  the  portraiture  of 
one  of  the  loveliest  characters  in  history. 

Upon  the  accession  of  her  husband  to  the  presi- 
dential office  in  the  beginning  of  April,  1841,  Mrs. 
Tyler  proceeded  with  him  to  the  Executive  Mansion 
of  the  nation,  at  Washington,  but  with  many  sighs 
and  tears  at  parting  with  her  own  home,  and  without 
the  thought  of  personal  triumphs  in  the  world  of  fash- 
ion and  display.  She  resigned  herself  to  the  change 
simply  to  be  with  her  loved  ones,  and  to  receive  the 
tender  care  and  attention  of  those  in  whom  she  liter- 
ally "  lived  and  had  her  being."  Her  health  had  be- 
come greatly  impaired  from  a  severe  attack  of  illness 
during  the  year  1839,  and  her  condition  remained  a3 
has  been  described  by  her  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Rob- 
ert Tyler,  then  to  have  been  in  the  month  of  October. 
Nevertheless,  in  all  the  private  apartments  of  the 
President's  Mansion,  the  same  mode3  of  life  were  main- 
tained to  those  to  which  she  had  ever  been  accustomed. 
Her  sisters  and  brothers  and  other  relatives,  as  well 
27 


418  LADIES    OF    THE   WIIITE    HOUSE. 

as  her  children,  still  hovered  around  her,  as  they  had 
always  done,  with  increased  aud  increasing  affection  ag 
they  discovered  her  frame  becoming  somewhat  more 
feeble.  She  passed  her  time  chiefly  in  their  society, 
receiving  but  few  visitors  and  returning  no  visits. 
Her  health,  indeed,  required  that  she  should  delegate 
to  some  one  of  her  married  daughters  the  semi-official 
duties  of  the  "Lady  of  the  White  House." 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  her  own  married 
daughters,  Mrs.  Jones  *  and  Mrs.  Semple,  wrere  com- 
pelled by  their  domestic  duties,  in  the  line  of  the  pri- 
vate affairs  and  personal  interests  of  their  husbands,  to 
remain  at  their  respective  residences  in  Virginia,  but 
frequently  coming  to  Washington,  for  brief  periods,  it 
is  true,  through  solicitude  for  her  health  and  to  bestow 
their  affection  upon  her ;  and  as  regards  her  two  re- 
maining daughters,  Elizabeth,  afterward  Mrs.  Waller, 
was  just  grown  up  to  womanhood,  and  was  not  yet 
married ;  and  Alice,  afterward  Mrs.  Henry  M.  Deni- 
son,f  was  still  but  a  child.     However,  it  fortunately 


*Mary,  the  first  child  and  oldest  daughter  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  in 
her  features  bore  a  marked  but  refined  and  delicate  likeness  to  her  father, 
and  strikingly  blended  in  her  character  the  admirable  attributes  of  both 
father  and  mother.  She  was  a  lady  of  the  most  exalted  worth  and  lovely 
mould.  She  married,  at  an  early  age,  Mr.  Henry  Lhhtf'oot  Jones,  of 
Charles  City  County,  Virginia,  and  died  after  her  mother,  leaving  an  in- 
fant daughter  that  soon  followed  her  spirit,  and  three  sons,  two  of  whom 
only  survive,  Henry  and  Robert,  who  fought  in  the  ranks  in  Lee's  army, 
both  being  mentioned  in  orders,  and  the  latter  of  whom,  born  in  tho 
"White  House,"  was  promoted  for  a  feat  of  daring  gallantry  and  three 
wounds  received  at  Gettysburg,  to  a  first-lieutenancy. 

t  Alice,  fourth  and  last  daughter  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  resembled  her 
mother  in  features  more  than  any  other  child.     She  married,  years  after 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  419 

so  happened  that  her  oldest  son  and  his  wife  had  not 
permanently  located  themselves  in  life  since  their  re- 
cent marriage,  and  it  was  considered  best  they  should 
continue  in  the  family.  Sometimes,  on  the  temporary 
visits  of  Mrs.  Jones  and  Mrs.  Semple,  all  her  married 
daughters  would  appear  together  in  the  Reception- 
rooms  ;  but  under  the  circumstances,  the  constant  task 
of  representing  her  mother,  in  respect  to  the  honors  of 
the  establishment,  was  delegated,  with  the  consent  of 
the  President,  to  Mrs.  Robert  Tyler,*  a  lady  of  ad- 
mirable culture  and  address,  to  whom  she  was,  as  well 
a3  the  rest  of  the  family,  devotedly  attached  as  to  her 
own  daughter.  One  of  the  few  occasions  on  which  she 
assented  to  appear  personally  in  the  public  Reception- 
rooms,  before  a  large  and  distinguished  assemblage  of 
men  and  women  associated  with  the  world  of  fashion 
and  that  of  politics  and  diplomacy,  was  that  of  the 


her  mother's  death,  the  Rev.  Henry  M.  Denison,  of  Wyoming,  Pennsyl- 
vania, a  clergyman  of  marked  ability,  eloquence,  and  conscientiousness, 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  Rector,  at  the  time,  of  old 
Bruton  Parish  Church,  at  Williamsburg,  Virginia.  She  died  while  he 
was  assistant  to  the  Bishop  of  Kentucky,  at  Louisville,  and  he  died  while 
Rector  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  a  victim  to  his  high  sense  of  duty 
to  his  congregation  during  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  that  city 
before  the  war.  They  left  an  infant  daughter  named  Elizabeth,  who  has. 
been  reared  and  educated  by  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Letilia  Tyler  Semple. 

*  Mrs.  Robert  Tyler,  wife  of  the  second  child  aud  oldest  son  of  Mrs. 
Letitia  Tyler,  is  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Abthorpe  Cooper,  the  distin- 
tinguished  tragedian,  an  English  gentleman,  ward  and  nephew  of  Good- 
win the  political  economist,  pupil  of  Holcroft,  and  friend  and  relative  ot 
Shelley  the  poet.  Her  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Major  Fairlee,  of 
2sV,v  York,  an  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  War  of  Independence,  and  of 
the  Governor  Yates  and  Vanness  family.  Her  eldest  daughter,  named 
after  her  grandmother,  Letitia  Christian,  was  born  in  the  White  House. 


420  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

marriage  of  her  daughter  Elizabeth,  and  is  thus  por- 
trayed by  Mrs.  Robert  Tyler  shortly  afterward,  in  a 

letter  addressed  to  her  relatives  near  Philadelphia. 

••  Washington.  February,  1S~2. 

*  *  *  «  Lizzie  *  has  had  quite  a  grand 
wedding,  although  the  intention  was  that  it  should  be 
quiet  and  private.  This,  under  the  circumstances, 
though,  was  found  impossible.  The  guests  consisted 
of  Mrs.  Madison,  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  with 
their  wives  and  daughters,  the  foreign  ministers  near 
the  government,  and  some  few  personal  friends,  outside 
of  the  family  and  their  relatives. 

"Lizzie  looked  surpassingly  lovely  in  her  wedding 
dress  and  long  blonde-lace  veil ;  her  face  literally  cov- 
ered with  blushes  and  dimples.  She  behaved  remark- 
ably well,  too  ;  any  quantity  of  compliments  were  paid 

*  Elizabeth,  third  daughter  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  was  married  to  Mr. 
William  Waller,  of  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  in  the  east  roo'.n  of  th:-  I 
dent's  Mansion,  at  Washington,  ou  the  thirty-first  day  of  January. 
in  the  19th  year  of  her  age.  In  character  she  greatly  resembled  her 
mother,  and  showed  much  of  her  early  beauty  and  grace.  Her  oldest 
son,  named  William,  resigned  from  the  West  Point  military  school  and 
married  during  the  recent  war  between  the  States,  the  youngest  stater  : 
the  wife  of  President  Davis,  in  the  Executive  Mansion  of  the  Confederate 
States,  at  Eichmond.  And  her  second  son,  John,  though  a  mere  lad,  was 
killed  daring  the  war.  "fighting  for  his  mother's  grave."  to  use  his  own 
words.  Another  son,  Kobert,  and  a  daughter,  Mary,  had  been  born  to 
her  before  she  died.  Her  children,  through  their  great-grandfather,  the 
first  secretary  of  the  American  Colonial  Congress,  and  their  great-,- 
mother,  his  wife,  the  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Traquaire,  and  whose  grandson 
is  the  present  titular  Earl,  bears  in  their  veins,  probably,  the  nearest  liv- 
ing blood  to  that  of  Queen  Mary  Stuart,  of  Scotland,  whose  name  her 
daughter  bears. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  4:21 

to  her.  I  heard  one  of  her  bridesmaids  express  to  Mr 
Webster  her  surprise  at  Lizzie  consenting  to  give  np 
her  belleship,  with  all  the  delights  of  Washington  so- 
ciety, and  the  advantages  of  her  position,  and  retire  to 
a  quiet  Virginia  home.     '  Ah,'  said  he, 

'Love  rules  the  court,  the  camp,  the  grove, 
And  love  is  heaven,  and  heaven  is  love.' 


"  Our  dear  mother  was  down-stairs  on  this  occasion 
for  the  first  time,  in  so  Large  a  circle,  since  she  has  been 
in  Washington.  She  gained  by  comparison  with  all 
the  fine  ladies  around  her.  I  felt  proud  of  her,  in  her 
perfectly  faultless,  yet  unostentatious  dress,  her  face 
shaded  by  the  soft  fine  lace  of  her  cap,  receiving  in  her 
sweet,  gentle,  self-possessed  manner,  all  the  important 
people  who  were  led  up  and  presented  to  her.  She 
was  far  more  attractive  to  me  in  her  appearance  and 
bearing  than  any  other  lady  in  the  room,  and  I  believe 
such  was  the  general  impression.  Somebody  says, '  the 
highest  order  of  manner  is  that  which  combines  digni- 
ty with  simplicity ;'  and  this  just  describes  mother's 
manner,  the  charm  of  which,  after  all,  proceeds  from 
her  entire  forgetfulness  of  self,  and  the  wish  to  make 
those  around  her  happy.""  *         *         *         * 

Major  Tyler  enables  me  to  glean  farther  facts  and 
incidents  as  to  the  modes  and  inmates  of  the  Executive 
Mansion  during  this  period,  before  which  all  confusion 
of  idea  vanishes.     He  says : — 

u  I  was  for  more  than  three  years  '  Major  Dorno' 
of  the  establishment,  and  to  the  last  private  secretary, 


422  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

but  never  to  this  day  Lave  received  from  the  Govern- 
ment, directlv  or  indirectly,  one  dollar  for  mv  services 
in  either  capacity.  My  mothers  health  was  entirely 
too  delicate  to  permit  her  to  charge  herself  with  the 
semi-official  social  requirements  of  the  mansion,  and 
my  married  sisters  being  unavoidably  absent  for  the 
most  of  the  time,  the  task  devolved  upon  Mrs.  Robert 
Tyler  to  represent  my  mother  on  stated  occasions.  She 
continued  in  the  role  of  honors,  as  they  are* termed, 
until  after  my  mothers  death,  and  my  brother  made 
his  arrangements  to  practise  law  in  Philadelphia,  by 
which  time  it  also  happened  that  Mr.  Semple's  affairs 
became  differently  accommodated,  and  he  proceeded  to 
sea  as  a  Purser  in  the  United  States  Navy,  when  my 
sister  Letitia  *  became  at  liberty  to  take  up  her  abode 
in  Washington.  Accordingly,  both  the  President  and 
myself  now  addressed  to  her  letters,  inviting  her  to  as- 
sume the  position  and  duties  of  '  Lady  of  the  White 
House,"1  which  she  consented  to  do  and  so  acted  v 
May,  1844. 

"  During  my  mother's  life,  and  up  to  this  date,  al- 
ways contemning  pretension  and  worldly  vanity,  we 
lived  m  the  'White  House'  as  we  lived  at  home,  save 
that  we  were  obliged  to  have  rather  more  company. 

*  Letitia,  the  second  and  only  surviving  daughter  and  fourth  child  of 
Mrs.  Let'.tia  Tyler,  married  in  early  life  the  nephew  and  adopted  B 
Judge  Semple,  of  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  who  reared  an 
to  manhood,  his  own  father,  a  brother  of  the  Judge,  as  well  as  h:s  mother 
dying  iii  his  infancy,  leaving  him  by  will  a  handsome  fortoi  -:-.  The  Sc  • 
pies  are  of  the  fondly  of  the  Earls  Dnndonahl,  of  S  ::'.::.".  and  of  the 
same  branch  with  that  of  the  celebrated  B'air,  appointed  by  King  James 
the  first  commissioner  of  Virginia,  and  who  was  afterward  Preslc .-.  :  : 
William  and  ilarv  College. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  423 

less  select  as  to  true  worth  than  was  altogether  agree- 
able. In  the  course  of  the  '  fashionable  season,'  and 
while  the  sessions  of  the  Congress  lasted,  we  gave  two 
dinner  parties  each  week,  very  much  after  the  plain, 
substantial  Virginia  manner  and  style,  to  the  first  of 
which,  usually  confined  to  gentlemen  from  different 
parts  of  the  country  visiting  Washington,  and  who  had 
shown  respectful  attention  to  the  President  and  family, 
twenty  guests  were  always  invited ;  and  to  the  second, 
usually  embracing  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  from 
among  the  dignitaries  of  the  different  departments  of 
the  Federal  and  State  governments,  and  the  diplomatic 
corps  of  foreign  governments,  forty  persons  were  in 
vited,  making  in  either  case  quite  a  full  table. 

"  Our  drawing  rooms,  as  at  home,  were  open  every 
evening  informally  until  10  o'clock — never  later — 
when  the  family  rose  and  retired,  and.  doors  were 
closed.  Before  my  mother's  death,  we  gave  occasion- 
ally during  the  winter  months,  by  special  invitations, 
in  the  general  reception-rooms,  a  private  ball,  attended 
with  dancing,  but  terminating  at  11  o'clock.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  private  entertainments  and  strictly  social 
converse,  we  introduced  at  this  period— for  the  first  time 
it  had  been  done — music  on  the  grounds  of  the  south 
front  of  the  Mansion,  on  the  Saturday  evenings  of  each 
week  during  the  mild  weather  of  the  spring,  summer, 
and  fall,  for  the  recreation  of  the  public  at  large ;  and 
to  a  similar  end  a  public  levee  was  held  once  a  month, 
in  addition  to  the  general  receptions  on  the  first  day 
of  January  and  the  Fourth  of  July,  of  each  year. 

"Nothing  whatever  preceded  by  cards  of  invita 


4.2-4  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITS    HOUSE. 

tiou  was  permitted  to  be  considered  in  any  other  light 
than  as  a  private  affair  of  the  Presidential  family,  with 
which  the  world  outside  and  the  public  press  had 
nothing  whatever  to  do,  just  precisely  as  if  we  had 
been  in  our  own  house  in  Williamsburg.  Even  in  re- 
spect to  the  public  receptions  mentioned,  the  Madison- 
ian  was  never  suffered  to  indulge  in  a  description 
either  of  the  persons  or  characters  present,  in  an  indi- 
vidualizing manner,  after  modern  usages,  and  no  en- 
eouragement  was  given  to  any  one  so  to  do.  I  send 
you  a  specimen  of  the  only  sort  of  notice,  even  in  the 
latter  case,  that  was  regarded  as  at  all  admissible 
while  my  mother  lived.  Any  thing  more  particular 
would  have  shocked  her  delicate  sense  of  propriety, 
and  been  absolutely  offensive  to  the  President. 

The  Madisonian,  Washington,  Monday,  March  17,  1842. 
"THE  LAST  LEVEE  OF  THE  SEASON. 

"The  levee  held  by  the  President  on  Tuesday  eve- 
ning last,  was  a  brilliant  affair,  and  gave  satisfactory 
evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  that  high  functionary 
is  held  in  social  circles. 

"Among  the  visitors  of  peculiar  note  were  the 
distinguished  authors  of  the  '  Sketch-Book,'  and  of  the 
'Pickwick  Papers,'  in  addition  to  whom  almost  all  the 
Ministers  of  Foreign  Powers  to  our  Government  were 
in  attendance  in  full  court  dress. 

"The  rooms  were  rilled  to  overflowing;  with  the 
talent  and  beauty  of  the  metropolis,  whilst  Senators 
and  Members  of  Congress,  without  distinction  of  party, 
served  to  give  interest  and  to  add  animation  to  the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  425 

scene.  It  seems  to  us  that  these  levees,  as  at  present 
conducted,  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  genius  of  our 
Republican  institutions,  inasmuch  as  all  who  please 
may  attend  without  infringement  of  etiquette.  We 
almost  regret  their  termination  for  the  season,  but  look 
forward  with  pleasure  to  the  period  when  they  will 
be  renewed." 

"  I  may  say  that  this  notice,  as  restrained  as  it  is, 
bears  internal  evidence  showing  that  it  would  not  have 
been  made  but  for  the  necessity  of  informing  the  pub- 
lic in  some  indirect  manner  of  the  termination  of  the 
public  receptions  for  a  season.  I  find  none  other.  In 
another  column,  and  in  quite  a  different  connection,  the 
Madisonian  says :  '  The  Richmond  Whig  admits,  and 
we  heartily  concur  in  the  sentiment,  that  Mr.  Tyler, 
in  his  appointment  of  Washington  Irving,  the  author 
of  the  '  Sketch  Book,'  as  Minister  to  Spain,  has  paid  a 
just  tribute  to  the  most  distinguished  ornament  of 
American  letters.'  Scarcely  any  notice  appears  of  the 
marriage  of  my  sister  Elizabeth  in  the  preceding  Jan- 
uary, that  being  regarded  as  a  purely  family  matter. 

"  Allow  me  one  word  more,  in  conclusion,  pertain- 
ing to  the  subject.  Such  was  the  bitterness  of  party 
feeling  toward  us,  that  no  appropriation  was  made 
by  Congress  either  for  furnishing  the  house,  or  for  the 
oflice  of  private  secretary,  or  for  the  incidental  ex- 
penses of  fuel,  lights,  door-keepers,  messengers,  <fcc, 
that  are  now  so  abundant  as  really  to  double  the  sal- 
ary of  the  Executive  Office  over  what  it  then  was.  I 
left  Washington  with  my  private  means  exhausted, 
and  scarcely  able  to  get  home  in  Virginia,  only  there 


42G  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

to  encounter  additional  trouble  through  the  fact,  al- 
though it  was  perfectly  in  my  power  in  various  ways, 
but  particularly  through  the  management  of  the  pub- 
lic revenues  under  the  repeal  of  the  Sub-Treasury  Bill 
and  the  veto  of  the  Bank  Bill — the  first  being  intend- 
ed to  operate  compulsorily  in  favor  of  the  last — to 
have  constituted  myself  the  private  recipient  of  fabu- 
lous sums  of  money,  without  the  public  being  either 
the  loser  or  the  wiser.  And,  but  for  the  fortunate  sale 
of  a  valuable  tract  of  land  which  my  father  owned  in 
Kentucky,  acquired  years  before,  worth  now  as  many 
tens  of  thousands  as  the  thousands  that  he  realized 
from  it,  and  which  before  selling  he  offered  to  deed  to 
me  Ml  consideration  of  my  constant  devotion  to  him, 
and  particularly  for  my  faithfulness  at  the  time  of  the 
offer,  but  which  I  declined  accepting  upon  a  certain 
pecuniary  understanding  with  him  in  relation  to  my 
sisters  that  after-events,  however,  frustrated^  he  also 
would  have  been  greatly  straitened  in  his  circumstan 
ces,  and  been  driven  to  the  necessity  of  practising  law 
a^ain  after  retiring  from  the  Executive  Offica  But 
with  the  funds  thus  realized  he  purchased  'Sherwood 
estate  on  the  James  River,  and  the  summer  residence 
near  Hampton,  and  made  himself  comfortable.  He 
never  received  one  dollar  without  a  full  equivalent  re- 
turn, after  leaving  the  Presidential  Mansion  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  from  any  other  source  than  this  and  the  suc- 
cessful cultivation  of  the  lands  so  purchased — all  other 
statements  and  speculations  and  false  colorings  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding." 

No  perceptible  change  in  Mrs.  Tyler's  condition  of 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  427 

health  occurred  until  Friday,  the  10th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1842.  Ou  the  morning  of  that  day,  hex  family 
physician  detected  a  change  unhappily  for  the  worse, 

and  a  threatened  renewal  of  paralysis.  He  instantly 
called  in  consultation  others  of  the  faculty,  and  every 
thing  was  promptly  applied  devised  by  the  skill  of  the 
profession  to  ward  off  the  fatal  stroke.  But  all  in 
vain.  On  the  evening  of  the  next  day.  Saturday,  Sep- 
tember the  10th.  at  eight  o'clock,  the  hour  came  for 
her  to  be  joined  to  her  fathers.  A  pious  communi- 
cant of  the  church  of  Christ,  innocent  in  soul  as  a  lit- 
tle child,  crowned  with  the  virtues  which  had  marked 
her  useful  and  unselfish  life,  fearing  and  loving  God, 
reverencing  her  husband,  adoring  and  adored  by  her 
children — she  passed  into  the  heavenly  kingdom  pal- 
pitating with  the  immortal  joys  of  a  spirit  release! 
from  every  earthly  pain  and  sorrow.  On  Sunday,  the 
Executive  Mansion  stood  arrayed  in  niourninor,  and  the 
tolling  of  the  bells  of  the  city  announced  the  sad  visi- 
tation to  those  among  the  living.  Every  honor  that  the 
sincerest  respect  and  the  purest  love  and  the  sense  of 
a  bitter  bereavement  could  suggest,  was  paid  to  her  re- 
mains. A  committee  of  the  citizens  of  Washington 
conveyed  her  body,  after  it  had  laid  in  state  in  the  east- 
room  for  several  days,  to  the  family  burial  ground  at 
the  old  paternal  residence  in  New  Kent  County,  and 
there,  in  the  midst  of  a  sorrowing  assemblage  of  rela- 
tives  and  friends  and  neighbors  who  had  known  her 
from  birth,  the  parting  tears  of  her  husband  and  her 
children,  gushing  up  from  the  fountain  of  their  hearts, 
were  shed  upon  her  coffin  ere  it  was  deposited  in  the 


428  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

earth,  where  reposed  already  the  dust  of  her  parents 
and  of  others  she  had  loved,  and  who  fondly  loved  her. 

Thus  lived  and  died  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  wife  of  the 
last  of  the  Virginia  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  a 
model  of  the  exalted  civilization  of  the  "  ancient  com- 
monwealth and  dominion,"  a  representative  of  her  sex 
worthy  of  their  grateful  memor}',  an  honor  to  the  hu- 
man family,  and  a  child  of  God. 

I  do  not  know  how  this  brief  and  defective  yet 
perfectly  truthful  sketch  of  this  admirable  woman  can 
be  better  closed  than  by  the  publication  of  the  obitua- 
ries presented  to  the  world,  at  the  time  of  her  decease, 
by  the  Washington  Journals,  from  the  immediate 
hands  of  their  accomplished  and  disinterested  edi- 
tors, followed  by  the  beautiful  elegy  composed  on 
her  death. 

The  National  Intelligencer,  Washington,  Monday 
morning,  September  10th,  1842. 

OBITUARY. 

"  There  is  no  part  of  our  professional  duty  so  pain- 
ful to  us  as  that  of  announcing  the  departure  from  this 
life  of  individuals  of  honorable  and  enviable  repute, 
and  whose  personal  virtues  render  their  deaths  deeply 
afflictive  dispensations  to  a  large  and  affectionate  fam- 
ily, and  to  a  wide  circle  of  relatives  and  friends. 

"Such  is  the  duty  which  we  have  now  to  perform, 
of  announcing  the  death  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  wife  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  This  most  estimable  lady  wras  in  life,  more  truly 
than  we  can  represent  her  in  words,  a  wife,  a  mother. 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  429 

and  a  Christian — loving  and  confiding  to  her  husband, 
gentle  and  affectionate  to  her  children,  kind  and  chari- 
table to  the  needy  and  the  afflicted.  Deeply  impressed 
in  early  life  by  her  highly  respected  and  pious  parents 
with  the  truthful  and  heavenly  doctrines  of  the  meek 
Jesus,  in  all  her  actions,  writh  whatever  sphere  in  life 
connected,  self  was  forgotten  by  her,  and  the  good  of 
others  alone  remembered,  which  won  for  her  wherever 
she  was  known,  the-love  and  esteem  of  all. 

"  The  pure  spirit  which  animated  her  to  such  vir- 
tuous and  exemplary  deeds,  fled  to  the  bosom  of  its  God 
at  eight  o'clock,  .on  Saturday  night  the  10th  inst. 

"  Her  funeral  will  take  place  at  the  President's  Man- 
sion, at  four  o'clock  this  evening,  Monday  12th  Septem- 
ber. The  reverend  clergy,  and  the  friends  and  acquain- 
tances of  the  family  are  invited  to  attend." 

"  The  Daily  Globe? 

Washisgtox,  Monday  Evening,  September  12th,'  1842. 
OBITUAEY. 

"  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  wife  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  expired  at  eight  o'clock,  on  the  evening 
of  Saturday  last. 

"  She  had  been,  for  some  years  past,  a  patient  suf- 
ferer from  paralysis,  preserving  in  the  midst  of  the 
afflictions  it  brought  the  amenity  of  manners,  gentle- 
ness of  temper,  and  anxious  liberal  benevolence,  which 
distinguished  her  from  early  life.  Years  before  Mrs. 
Tyler  reached  the  exalted  station — in  which  every  indi- 
vidual attribute  looms  more  largely  than  in  humble 


430  LADIES    01-'    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

life— we  had,  from  a  lady  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  where 
she  had  resided  during  the  period  her  husband  was 
Governor  of  that  State,  a  sketch  of  her  character  and 
attributes,  then  in  perfect  health  and  adorned  with 
beaut v,  which  impressed  us  with  the  idea  that  Mr. 
Tyler  had  been  still  more  fortunate  in  his  domestic 
than  in  his  public  life.  She  was  represented  to  us  as 
one  of  the  most  benign  and  amiable  of  human  beings, 
with  all  the  endearing  qualities  of  wife,  mother,  and 
friend,  while  possessing  a  fine  understanding.  Her 
good  influence  was  felt  throughout  the  whole  circle  in 
which  she  moved. 

"  The  funeral  service  is  to  be  performed  over  her 
remains,  at  the  President's  Mansion,  this  evening. 
They  will  be  removed  to-morrow  for  interment  in  Vir- 
ginia." 

"  The  MadAsonianT 

Washington,  Tr.esJ:v  Morning,  September  13th,  1842. 
OBIIUAEY. 

"  Again  death  has  winded  a  fatal  shaft  at  the  Palace 
of  the  Presidents.  The  first  pierced  the  breast  of  a 
President,  and  this  has  stricken  down  the  consort  ot 
one.  All  the  ways  of  Providence  are  wise  and  just ! 
"We  cannot  but  mourn,  yet  we  must  submit  in  humility. 
When  our  paper  for  Monday  morning  went  to  press  on 
Saturday  evening — for  we  do  no  work  on  the  Sabbath 
day — we  expected,  and  so  intimated,  from  what  we 
had  heard,  that  before  the  morning:  the  consort  of  the 
Chief  Magistrate  would  be  no  more  anions  the  living 
-and  so  it  was. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  431 

"  On  Sunday,  a  gloom  seemed  to  pervade  the  city. 
An  expression  of  sorrow  and  condolence  was  observed 
on  most  faces.  Party  feelings  were  buried  for  the 
time.  The  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Dr.  Hawley, 
announced  iu  feeling  terms  the  sad  event  to  the  con- 
gregation during  the  morning  service.  The  President's 
pew  was  draped  in  black  and  tenantless.  Mrs.  Tyler 
was  a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal  Church . 

"  On  Monday,  obituary  notices,  as  brief  and  chaste 
as  they  are  just  and  true,  were  prepared  and  published 
in  the  National  Intelligencer,  and  the  Daily  Globe,  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Gales,  and  Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair,  in  their 
respective  editorial  columns. 

"  At  four  o'clock,  p.  31.,  on  Monday,  the  funeral  ser- 
vices were  performed,  and  a  sermon  for  the  occasion 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Hawley,  at  the  President's  Man- 
sion, in  the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse  of  citi- 
zens. 

"  Flowers  were  strewn  over  the  bier — fit  emblems 
of  fading  mortality. 

"The  mute  <n*ief  of  the  stricken  Chief  Magistrate 
and  his  afflicted  family  found  a  sympathetic  throb  in 
every  bosom. 

"Never  did  we  witness  a  more  impressive  scene. 
Cabinet  Ministers,  Senators,  and  Members,  without 
distinction  of  party — the  rich  and  the  poor,  aye  !  the 
humblest,  always  found  access  to  the  departed — were 
there  and  mourned  with  the  bereaved  family. 

"  The  President,  accompanied  by  those  members  of 
his  household  and  relatives  of  the  family  who  were 
sojourning  in  Washington  left  the  city  this  morning, 


432  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    BOUSE. 

Tbsb  lay,  13th  September,  in  attendance  on  her  mortal 
remains,  to  be  interred  at  Cedar  Grove,  in  New  Kent 
County,  Virginia,  the  place  of  her  birth,  and  where  she 
iras  married  under  the  paternal  roof. 

[rs.  Tyler  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Robert  Chris- 
tian, who  enjoyed,  during  a  long  life,  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  who  served  for 
many  years  as  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 
She  was  born  on  the  12th  of  November,  1790,  was 
married  to  Mr.  Tyler  on  the  29th  of  March,  1813, 
was  baptized  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
early  life,  and  died  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  her  age. 
She  was  stricken  with  paralysis  nearly  four  years  ago. 
The  blow  was  extremely  severe,  and  although  by  the 
kind  and  unremitting  attentions  bestowed  on  her,  un- 
der the  direction  of  able  physicians,  she  was  restored 
to  a  condition  of  comparative  comfort,  yet  her  sys- 
tem remained  greatly  shattered,  and  her  health  con- 
tinued evermore  precarious.  Indeed,  it  became  indis- 
il  ly  necessary  that  she  should  forego,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  enjoyment  of  those  social  circles  which  she 
had  previously  adorned.  Her  family  have  continually 
watched  over  her  with  the  greatest  anxiety,  and  Dr. 
Thomas  has  been  assiduous  in  his  almost  daily  visits  to 
the  President's  Mansion  for  many  months,  in  recogni- 
tion of  the  profound  affections  centering  in  her.  But 
though  it  was  seen  that  she  was  gradually  fadiug  away 
beneath  the  cruel  disease  under  which  she  labored,  no 
apprehensions  of  an  early  dissolution  were  anticipated 
until  Friday  the  9th  instant,  when  Dr.  Seweli,  at  the 
instance  of  Dr.  Thomas,  was  called  in  as  advising  phy- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  433 

sician.  She  continued  thereafter  to  decline,  until  eight 
o'clock  on  Saturday  night,  the  10th  instant,  when  she 
breathed  her  last,  surrounded  by  her  sorrowing  family 
and  relatives.  Her  end  was  quiet  and  tranquil,  like 
one  falling  from  weariness  into  profound  slumber,  ex- 
hibiting a  mind  at  rest  with  itself  and  a  heart  of  vir- 
tue. She  was,  '  in  life,1  as  has  been  most  truly  re- 
marked by  the  National  Intelligencer,  and  substan- 
tially repeated  in  the  Daily  Globe,  '  a  wife,  a  mother, 
and  a  Christian,  loving  and  confiding  to  her  husband, 
gentle  and  affectionate  to  her  children,  kind  and  chari- 
table to  the  needy  and  the  afflicted ; '  and  in  death  she 
sleeps  the  sleep  of  the  righteous  and  the  beloved  of 
Heaven  ! 

"  The  President,  after  paying  the  last  sad  rites  to  her 
remains,  will,  we  learn,  pass  a  few  days  with  his  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Letitia  Semple,  at  her  residence  in  New  Kent 
County,  and  then  take  up  his  abode  at  the  Rip  Raps, 
in  complete  retirement  and  seclusion  until  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  time  for  the  reassembling  of  the  Con- 
gress. 

"The  secretaries  of  the  government  will  attend  the 
exequies  to  Virginia ;  and  General  Hunter,  the  mar- 
shal of  the  district,  Mr.  Fendall,  the  district  attorney, 
General  John  Eaton,  late  of  the  cabinet  of  President 
Jackson,  General  John  Mason,  Major  Nutt,  Major  No- 
land,  Major  Dade,  and  other  citizens,  will  proceed  as 
pall-bearers  to  the  interment  and  final  rest  of  the  body 
in  the  burial  ground  where  repose  the  ashes  of  her 
father  and  her  mother. 

"  No  pearl  ever  inhabited  its  shell  more  pure  than 
28 


434  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  soul,  now,  we  fondly  believe,  dwelling  with  its  God 
that  quickened  into  being  and  maintained  existence  on 
earth  enshrined  in  the  form  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler." 

"  The  Sun:' 

Baltimoee,  Saturday,  September  17th,  1842. 
ELEGY 

On  the  death  of  Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler,  wife  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  in  the  Executive  Mansion 
at  Washington,  September  10th,  1842. 

"  Hushed  be  tbe  air !  let  no  rude  breath 

Disturb  her  dreamless  sleep, 
While  angels  round  her  silent  bier 

Their  holy  vigils  keep  ! 
Faintly  her  spirit  passed  away, 
Like  the  last  loveliest  streak  of  day 

That  fades  upon  the  deep— 
A  farewell  beam,  which  love  in  vain 
Seeks  fondly  to  illume  again. 

Hark !  from  afar,  like  Sabbath  chimes, 

Is  heard  a  nation's  wail ! 
In  plaintive  accents,  sad  and  low, 

It  swells  upon  the  gale : — 
From  Mississippi's  turbid  waves 
To  where  St.  John's  dark  current  laves 

The  border  foeman's  trail, 
Its  lingering  echoes  rise  and  fall 
Like  death-chants  in  a  funeral  hall. 

We  mourn,  but  not  like  those  whose  hopes 

In  fetters  cling  to  earth  ; 
The  trance  we  deem  thy  signet,  Death, 

But  marks  the  spirit's  birth : — 
While  memory  paints  her  soaring  mind, 
Her  seraph  form,  her  soul  refined, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  435 

Her  loveliness  and  worth, 
We  feel  that,  like  the  stricken  dove, 
She's  fled  unto  her  home  of  love. 

Yet  o'er  thy  grave,  departed  one! 

Unbidden  tears  -will  start, 
And  mournful  scbs  the  bosom  heave, 

Mute  offering  of  the  heart ! 
Ifanhood  and  youth,  and  tottering  age, 
Will  there  perform  a  pilgrimage, 

From  the  rude  throng  apart : — 
While  maid  and  matron  join  to  tell 
The  gifts  that  from  her  bounty  fell. 

Virginia!  from  thy  diadem 

A  priceless  gem  has  fled ! 
The  peerless  daughter  of  thy  pride 

Is  numbered  with  the  dead ! 
Thy  young  and  joyous  crowds  no  more 
Will  throng  around  her  welcome  door, 

By  her  sweet  counsels  led — 
2^or  will  the  music  of  her  voice 
Again  her  children's  hearts  rejoice. 

But  let  no  cypress  o'er  her  tomb 

Its  gloomy  influence  throw ; 
Its  chilling  shade  would  ill  reflect 

Her  soul  who  sleeps  below. 
Flowers  of  the  richest  perfume  there 
Should  fling  their  breath  upon  the  air 

And  crystal  streamlets  flow ; 
That  fond  affection  there  may  find 
Meet  emblems  of  her  heavenly  mind.n 


43  fi  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


MRS.  JULIA  GARDINER  TYLER. 

President  John  Tyler  was  married  to  Miss  Julia 
Gardiner  the  26th  clay  of  June,  IS 44,  at  the  Church 
of  the  Ascension,  New  York  City.  Immediately  after 
the  wedding,  the  bridal  party  returned  to  the  White 
House,  where  they  held  a  grand  reception  in  lieu  of 
the  usual  wedding  festivities.  It  was  the  first,  and  up 
to  the  present  time,  the  only  instance  of  the  marriage 
of  a  President,  and  the  affair  created  great  excitement 
and  interest  throughout  the  United  States,  heightened 
doubtless  by  the  recollection  of  the  tragic  death  of  the 
father  of  the  bride,  a  few  months  previous. 

Miss  Gardiner  was  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  gen- 
tleman residing  on  Gardiner's  Island,  and  the  eldest  of 
three  children.  Her  education,  continued  at  home  un- 
til her  sixteenth  year,  was  completed  at  the  Chegaiy 
Institute,  in  New  York  City.  Immediately  after  the 
termination  of  her  school  life,  she  accompanied  her 
father  to  Europe.  Returning  from  abroad  after  an  ex- 
tended tour,  she  visited,  during  the  sitting  of  Congress, 
the  National  Capital,  and  there  for  the  first  time  met 
the  distinguished  man  to  whom  she  was  afterward 
married. 

It  was  while  on  a  visit  to  Washington  in  the  win- 
ter of  1844,  that  Mr.  Gardiner  and  his  young  daughter 
were  invited  by  Captain  Stockton  to  accompany  a  large 
party  of  the  President's  friends  to  Alexandria,  and  on 


% i 


I 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  437 

the  return  trip,  when  just  opposite  to  the  fort,  all  the 
gentlemen  were  invited  on  deck  to  witness  the  firing 
of  the  "  peace-maker."  Many  of  the  party,  who  were 
all  partaking  of  a  collation,  responded  to  the  invita- 
tion ;  among  the  number  the  father  of  Miss  Gardiner. 
The  explosion  startled  the  President,  who  with  the 
ladies  had  remained  below,  and  in  a  moment  the 
piercing  cries  of  the  wounded  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
passengers  with  terror.  Death  had  made  fearful 
havoc,  and  the  living  waited  in  breathless  anxiety  for 
the  announcement  of  the  names  of  the  victims. 

The  bodies  were  conveyed  to  the  "White  House, 
where  the  funeral  services  were  preached,  and  the  last 
sad  rites  performed. 

The  following  summer  Miss  Gardiner  was  married, 
and  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  her  husband's 
administration,  a  period  of  eight  months,  she  did  the 
honors  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  performing  her 
agreeable  task  with  credit  to  herself  and  pleasure  to 
her  friends. 

After  President  Tyler's  retirement  from  public  life, 
he  removed  to  his  home  in  Virginia,  where  he  contin- 
ued to  reside  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Rich- 
mond, the  lTth  of  January,  1862. " 

During  this  period  of  seventeen  years,  Mrs.  Tyler 
remained  uninterruptedly  in  Virginia,  with  her  hus- 
band, save  six  months  which  she  spent  with  her  fami- 
ly in  New  York,  engaged  in  the  performance  of  her 
duties  as  a  wife  and  mother.  The  death  of  the  Ex- 
President  severed  the  dearest  tie  which  bound  her  to 
Virginia,  and  she  returned  with  her  children  to  cheer 


438  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  declining  years  of  her  mother's  life.  At  present, 
Mrs.  Tyler  is  residing  at  her  home,  Carleton  Hill, 
Staten  Island,  where,  blessed  with  the  companionship 
of  her  children,  and  surrounded  by  friends,  she  enjoys 
the  combined  gifts  of  affluence  and  health ;  and  in  the 
possession  of  those  attributes  which  render  compan- 
ionship agreeable  and  life  a  blessing,  she  is  passing  the 
days  of  her  earth-life. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  439 


MRS.  JAMES  K.  POLK. 

Sarah  Childress,  the  daughter  of  Captain  Joel 
and  Elizabeth  Childress,  was  born  near  Murfreesboro,  in 
Rutherford  County,  Tennessee,  the  4th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1803.  .  In  that  beautiful  portion  of  the  South,  al- 
most a  wilderness  then,  passed  the  younger  years  of 
her  life,  and  there  is  little  to  record  of  it  save  its  con- 
tentment and  tranquil  happiness.  Her  father,  a  farmer 
in  easy  circumstances,  and  considered  rich  for  those 
days,  allowed  his  children  every  benefit  to  be  derived 
from  his  fortunate  circumstances,  and  she  was  early 
placed  at  school.  The  Moravian  Institute  at  Salem, 
North  Carolina,  was  chosen  by  Mr.  Childress  as  the 
most  suitable  place  for  his  little  daughter,  and  she  was 
placed  in  that  strict  and  most  thorough  establishment. 
There  she  attained  discipline  and  culture,  and  her 
school  days  with  their  varying  shadows  and  sunshine, 
passed  quietly  away.  There  was  nothing  to  mar  the 
influence  of  those  happy  school  days,  and  each  as  it 
came,  did  its  appointed  duty  in  moulding  her  character. 
The  April  life  fleeted  by,  clouds  and  sunshine,  little 
griefs  and  joys,  the  studious  hour,  the  frank  compan- 
ionship of  girlhood,  the  animating  walk,  hand  in  hand 
with  young  friends  and  with  nature,  soon  rolled  away, 
and  Sarah  Childress  returned  home.  Surrounded  in 
her  father's  house  by  all  the  comfort?  possible  to  ob- 
tain in  that  State  in  those  days,  and  possessing  a  hope- 


440  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ful  temperament  and  sunny  heart,  adorned  with  all  the 
accomplishments  that  the  attention  of  parents  and 
teachers  could  bestow,  she  was  a  bright  ornament  in 
her  home,  and  a  pleasure  to  her  friends  and  society. 

At  the  early  age  of  nineteen  she  was  married  to 
James  Knox  Polk,  in  Murfreesboro.  The  wedding 
was  a  festival  of  rejoicing,  at  which  many  friends  of  the 
bride  and  groom  assisted,  and  was  characterized  by  the 
abundance  and  merriment  customary  at  that  day. 

Mr.  Polk  had  recently  entered  public  life,  and  was 
then  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee.  In 
the  following  year,  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the 
district,  at  that  time  composed  of  the  counties  of  Giles, 
Maury,  Lincoln  and  Bedford.  During  fourteen  ses- 
sions he  continued  the  representative  of  that  district. 
After  having  served  on  the  most  important  committees 
in  the  House,  he  was,  in  1836,  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  a  position  for  which  his  stu- 
dious and  industrious  habits,  together  with  his  con- 
stantly increasing  popularity  peculiarly  fitted  him. 

Mrs.  Polk  did  not  fail  to  accompany  her  husband 
to  "Washington,  every  winter  except  in  a  single  instance. 
She  occupied  there  a  conspicuous  place  in  society,  and 
by  her  polite  manners  and  sound  judgment  made  her 
companionship  pleasant  and  inspiriting,  not  only  to 
Mr.  Polk  but  to  the  friends  by  whom  he  was  surround- 
ed. Mrs.  Polk  was  a  highly  cultivated,  without  being 
a  literary  woman.  Being  interested  in  all  that  related 
to  her  husband,  she  took  pains  to  inform  herself  fully 
in  political  affairs,  and  read  all  the  news  and  discus- 
sions of  the  day  relating  to  the  well-being  of  the  coun- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  441 

try,  subjects  which  to  most  ladies  of  that  day  proved 
wearisome  and  hard  to  understand.  Living  in  the 
atmosphere  of  politicians  and  surrounded  by  public 
men,  she  however  avoided  the  maelstrom  upon  which 
ladies  are  often  stranded,  and  never  discussed  a  subject 
in  relation  to  vrhich  her  sex  were  expected  to  be  en- 
tirely ignorant.  AVomen  were  then  as  now,  supposed 
to  be  too  weak  to  understand  the  mighty  problem  of 
Government,  and  they  evidenced  their  acquiescence  in 
such  a  supposition  by  remaining  entirely  unacquainted 
with  the  politics  of  the  country.  Not  so  Mrs.  Polk, 
who  howTever  was  no  politician,  for  her  visitors  were 
not  aware  of  the  depth  of  her  understanding,  nor  were 
they  offended  by  the  recurrence  to  a  subject  deemed 
out  of  her  sphere.  There  was  an  intuitive  feeling  in 
her  heart  of  what  was  due  to  her  delicacy,  and  she  was 
wise  enough  to  be  consistent  and  appropriate  in  all  her 
actions.  Yet  her  mind  was  strengthened  by  careful 
reading  and  intimate  intercourse  with  many  of  the 
finest  minds  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Polk's  residence  was  at  Columbia,  Tennessee, 
where  the  intervals  between  the  sessions  of  Congress 
were  spent  among  his  relatives.  In  the  .year  1834, 
Mrs.  Polk  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  that 
place.  Since  that  time  her  character  has  been  entirely 
a  Christian  one.  Faithful  and  devout,  consistent  in 
her  conduct  to  every  rule  and  requirement  of  her  sect, 
she  has  exemplified  in  her  life  the  punctual  observance 
of  a  vow,  to  serve  her  God  through  the  acknowledged 
tenets  of  the  Presbyterian  orthodoxy. 

On  the  departure  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Polk  from  Wash- 


442  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ington,  in  1839,  Mrs.  Polk  received  the  graceful  com. 
pliment  of  a  copy  of  verses,  addressed  to  her  by  the 
eminent  jurist,  Hon.  Joseph  D.  Story. 

In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Polk  was  made  the  Governor 
of  Tennessee,  and  removed  his  residence  to  Nashville, 
in  order  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  his  new  position.  Mrs. 
Polk,  always  amiable  and  animated  by  the  truest  fidel- 
ity to  her  husband's  interests,  exerted  a  wide  influ- 
ence in  the  new  circle  into  which  her  life  had  been 
cast.  By  the  winning  gentleness  which  ever  accom- 
panied her  fine  social  qualities,  she  attracted  even  those 
members  of  the  Legislature  who  were  among  the  op- 
ponents of  Mr.  Polk.  And  this  is  saying  a  great  deal 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  political  campaign  of 
1840  was  the  most  fierce  and  exciting  one  in  the  his- 
tory  of  the  country.  It  is  known  as  the  "  hard  cider 
and  log-cabin  campaign.1'  Political  rancor  and  animos- 
ity prevailed  to  an  rmprecedentd  degree.  But  the 
lady-like  affability  and  high  and  exalted  virtues  of 
Mrs.  Polk,  won  universal  admiration  from  friend  and 
foe  alike.  She  lived  above  the  warring  elements  that 
surrounded  her.  The  calm  and  charming  bearing  of 
the  Governor's  wife  was  a  source  of  constant  praise. 

From  the  sister  states  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
came  the  opposing  Presidential  candidates  in  1844. 
Henry  Clay  the  idol  of  the  Whig  party,  and  the  most 
popular  public  man  in  the  Commonwealth  against  the 
champion  of  Democracy  James  K.  Polk. 

The  election  was  keenly  contested,  and  the  result 
most  damaging  to  the  Whig  party.  March  4th,  1845, 
Mr.  Polk  was  inaugurated.     The  day  was  very  disa- 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  443 

greeable,  rain  and  mud  rendering  much  of  a  display 
out  of  the  question.  He  was  accompanied  from  the 
Capitol  to  the  White  House  by  the  retiring  President, 
who  there  took  a  kindly  leave,  wishing  him  prosperity 
and  happiness  in  his  new  and  exalted  position.  Mrs. 
Polk  immediately  assumed  the  agreeable  duties  of  the 
lady  of  the  White  House,  and  having  no  children  to 
occupy  her  time,  she  devoted  herself  entirely  to  the 
pleasures  of  her  new  station.  She  held  weekly  recep 
tions,  and  it  was  customary  for  her  to  receive  her  com- 
pany sitting.  The  extreme*  formality  required  now, 
was  not  practised  then.  The  crowds  that  attend  the 
few  levees  held  by  the  President's  family,  renders  every- 
thing like  sociability  out  of  the  question.  Farther  and 
farther  from  the  old  landmarks  we  are  drifting.  In 
Mrs.  Washington's  day,  the  company  were  seated,  and 
herself  and  the  President  passed  round  the  company. 
Later  in  the  history  of  the  Chief  Magistrates,  President 
Adams  dispensed  cake  and  wine  to  the  guests,  and 
General  Jackson  cheese.  As  the  throng  grew  more 
numerous,  Mrs.  Polk  did  away  with  refreshments, 
and  now  policemen  are  stationed  in  the  Mansion  dur- 
ing receptions,  to  keep  the  crowds  from  crushing  the 
President  and  family,  who  are  compelled  to  stand  and 
shake  hands  the  entire  evening.  Verily  we  are  a  pro- 
gressive people. 

The  reputation  which  Mrs.  Polk  had  acquired  was 
nobly  sustained,  even  when  subjected,  as  one  might 
say,  to  the  gaze  of  the  whole  world.  Every  circum- 
stance, whether  of  embarrassment,  perplexity,  or  trial, 
added  to  the  undiminished  lustre  of  her  name.     She 


444  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

maintained  the  dirmitv  of  the  President's  Mansion, 
which,  in  this  country  of  republican  freedom  and  sim- 
plicity, was  often  in  danger  of  being  lowered.  Her 
parents  were  of  the  old  school,  high-toned  in  manners 
and  principles,  and  she  had  imbibed  from  them  what 
may  be  called  the  aristocracy  of  virtue;  an  idea  that, 
whatever  the  mass  of  society  might  consider  themselves 
at  liberty  to  do,  it  was  indispensably  due  to  her  station 
to  preserve  inviolate  the  strict  laws  of  decorum  and  of 
the  purest  principles.  Hence  it  will  not  be  surprising 
that  during  her  occupancy  of  the  White  House,  the 
practice  which  had  formerly  obtained,  of  dancing  there, 
was  discontinued ;  a  practice  which  was  evidently  out 
of  all  harmony  with  the  place,  and  more  suitable  any- 
where else. 

The  return  of  Mrs.  Polk  to  Washington  was  anti- 
cipated by  her  friends  with  the  liveliest  gratification. 
She  was  considered,  by  those  who  knew  her,  remark- 
ably fitted  to  fill  and  adorn  the  high  seat  to  which  she 
was  bidden.  The  following  extracts  will  show  the 
feeling  which  was  rife : 

"  We  have  recently  noticed  in  our  exchange  papers, 
of  both  political  parties,  the  most  respectful  and  flat- 
tering compliments  paid  to  the  amiable  and  accom- 
plished lady  who  is  shortly  to  take  charge  of  the 
White  House.  We  cannot  refrain  from  copying  the 
following  complimentary  tribute  to  Mrs.  Polk,  which 
is  taken  from  the  Southern  (Miss.)  Reformer,  and  we 
are  sure  that  in  this  community,  where  Mrs.  Polk  is 
best  known,  the  compliment  will  be  duly  appreciated. 
—Tennessee  Democrat. 


LADIES   OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  44'5 

1  This  lady  is  one  of  the  most  sensible,  refined,  and 
accomplished  of  her  sex,  and  will  adorn  the  White 
House  at  Washington,  over  which  she  is  destined  to 
preside,  with  distinguished  honor  to  her  country.  All 
who  have  mino-led  in  her  society  know  well  how  to 

O  "  m      ,  -TTT 

appreciate  the  gracefulness  of  her  disposition.  We 
have  seen  few  women  that  have  developed  more  of  the 
genuine  republican  characteristics  of  the  American 
lady.  She  has  had  her  admirers  not  only  in  the  high- 
est, but  in  the  humblest  walks  of  life.  The  poor  know 
her  for  her  benevolence ;  the  rich  for  the  plainness  of 
her  equipage ;  the  church  for  her  consistency ;  the  un- 
fortunate for  her  charities ;  and  society  itself  for  the 
veneration  and  respect  which  her  virtues  have  every- 
where awarded  her.  We  feel  proud  that  the  southwest 
can  boast  of  such  a  noble  offspring.' " 

""Washington  City,  February  24,  1845. 
"My  Dear  Sir: — The  advent  of  our  President 
elect  has  concentrated  everything  to  and  about  him. 
The  prudence  that  he  observed  before  he  reached  here 
in  reference  to  the  formation  of  his  Cabinet,  still  exists. 
He  keeps  his  own  counsels,  and  no  tie  of  personal  or 
political  friendship,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  has  been 
enabled  to  get  from  him  a  glimpse  of  the  future.  It 
is  generally  believed  here  that  Mr.  Polk  will  be  influ- 
enced by  no  ultra  party  considerations ;  that  he  will 
look  to  the  great  interests  of  the  country  as  a  whole, 
and  study,  with  the  incentives  of  a  statesman  and  a 
patriot,  so  td  administer  the  Government.  Should  he 
prescribe  to  himself  this  policy,  those  who  know  him 


446  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

best  know  that  lie  has  firmness  of  purpose  conimensu 
rate  to  its  fulfillment. 

"  "Whatever  the  diversities  of  opinion  that  divide 
politicians,  and  whatever  the  asperities  of  feeling  engen- 
dered by  the  conflicts  to  which  they  lead,  they  seem,  by 
common  consent,  to  be  surrendered  upon  the  altar  that 
is  reared  in  every  chivalrous  heart,  to  the  meed  most 
justly  due  to  elegance  and  excellence -of  female  charac- 
ter, in  the  person  of  the  lady  of  the  President  elect. 

"  All  approach  her  with  the  tribute  that  is  due  to 
her  exalted  station,  and  all  leave  her  with  the  pleasino- 
impression  that  the  refinement  and  blandishments  of 
her  manners,  the  gentleness  of  her  disposition,  and 
unostentatious  bearing,  fit  her  eminently  for  the  place 
and  part  she  is  to  occupy  for  the  next  four  years.  At 
home  and  abroad,  the  influence  of  her  character  will 
do  honor  to  our  country.  These  are  the  impressions 
of  your  friend." 

u  Not  long  since,  in  the  Xashville  Union  appeared 
a  communication  in  which  the  writer  very  justly  ap- 
plauds the  lady  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
in  consequence  of  her  dignified  and  exemplary  deport- 
ment since  her  occupancy  of  the  Presidential  Mansion. 
Anions;  other  remarks,  the  following;  occur :  '  She  is 
a  consistent  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 

■J 

therefore  has  abolished  dancing  and  other  light  amuse- 
ments  in  her  house.'  Assuredly  nothing  more  effectu- 
ally commends  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  than  the  holy 
and  consistent  conduct  of  those  who  profess  to  be  gov- 
erned by  its  precepts. 

"A   professor  of    religion,    doubtless   Mrs.    Polk 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  447 

deeply  realized  the  responsibility  of  her  position.  Ex- 
posed to  the  temptations  of  fashionable  life  in  their 
most  alluring  forms,  it  required  no  trivial  amount  of 
gracious  influence  to  enable  her  to  abjure  the  maxims 
and  customs  of  an  ungodly  world.  The  friends  of  re- 
ligion anxiously  looked  forward  in  regard  to  the 
course  she  might  think  proper  to  adopt  in  that  re- 
spect, and  thanks  to  Providence  and  her  own  pious 
heart,  their  hopes  and  expectations  have  not  been  dis- 
appointed. By  her  consistent  and  exemplary  conduct 
she  has  secured  the  gratitude  and  respect  of  the  friends 
of  religion  of  every  name,  yea,  of  all  whose  good 
opinion  is  most  worth  enjoying;  while,  in  the  mean- 
time, the  friends  and  advocates  of  the  rejected  pastimes, 
nolens  volen-s,  will  even  on  that  account  feel  constrained 
to  accord  to  her  the  homage  of  their  augmented  re- 
spect. 

"  The  example  of  Mrs.  Polk  can  hardly  fail  of  ex- 
erting, in  various  respects,  a  salutary  influence.  Espe- 
cially does  it  rebuke  the  conduct  of  those  ladies  who, 
professing  godliness,  nevertheless  dishonor  its  profes- 
sion by  their  eager  participation  in  the  follies  and 
amusements  of  the  world.  However  politicians  may 
differ  in  regard  to  the  merits  of  Mr.  Polk's  administra- 
tion, there  can  be  no  difference  as  respects  that  of  his 
lady,  in  her  department  of  the  Presidential  Mansion. 
All  will  agree  that  by  the  exclusion  of  the  frivolities 
spoken  of,  and  her  excellent  deportment  in  other  re- 
spects, she  has  conferred  additional  dignity  upon  the 
executive  department  of  our  government,  and  may 
well  be  considered  a  model  worthy  of  imitation  by  the 


448  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE. 

ladies  who  may  hereafter  occupy  the  elevated  position 
from  which  she  is  about  to  retire.  This  excellent  lady, 
ere  long,  it  is  presumed,  will  return  to  the  society  of 
kindred  and  friends,  among  whom,  it  is  sincerely 
hoped,  she  may  long  live  to  receive  and  confer  happi- 
ness upon  all  around,  and  as  hitherto,  continue  to  be  an 
ornament  to  the  religion  and  church  her  example  has 
so  signally  honored."' 

In  her  elevated  and  conspicuous  situation,  the  state- 
liness  of  Mrs.  Polk's  bearing  was  strikingly  becoming 
and  appropriate.  With  this  an  English  lady  was  im- 
pressed, who  averred  that  not  one  of  the  three  queens 
whoni  she  had  seen  could  compare  with  the  truly  femi- 
nine yet  distinguished  and  regal  presence  of  Mrs.  Polk. 
She  says :  "  Mrs.  Polk  is  a  very  handsome  woman. 
Her  hair  is  very  black,  and  her  dark  eye  and  com- 
plexion remind  one  of  the  Spanish  donnas.  She  is 
well-read,  has  much  talent  for  conversation,  and  is 
highly  popular.  Her  excellent  taste  in  dress  preserves 
the  subdued  though  elesrant  costume  which  character- 
izes  the  lady." 

The  same  feeling  of  admiration  seemed  to  inspire 
the  graceful  writer,  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Stephens,  in  the  fol- 
io wins:  tribute. 

''  Lady,  had  I  the  wealth  of  earth 

To  offer  freely  at  thy  shrine, 
Bright  gold  and  hods  of  dewy  hirth, 

Or  gems  from  out  the  teeming  mine, 
A  thousand  things  most  beautiful, 

All  sparkling,  precious,  rich  and  rare, 
These  hands  would  render  up  to  thee, 

Thou  noble  ladr.  crood  and  fair  ! 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  440 

For  as  I  -write,  sweet  thoughts  arise 

Of  times  when  all  thy  kindness  lent 
A  thousand  hues  of  Paradise 

To  the  fleet  moments  as  they  went ; 
Then  all  thy  thoughts  were  "winged  with  light, 

And  every  smile  was  calm  and  sweet, 
And  thy  low  tones  and  gentle  words 

Made  the  warm  heart's  blood  thrill  and  beat. 

There,  standing  in  our  nation's  home, 

My  memory  ever  pictures  thee 
As  some  bright  dame  of  ancient  Rome, 

Modest,  yet  all  a  queen  should  be  ; 
I  love  to  keep  thee  in  my  mind, 

Thus  mated  with  the  pure  of  old, 
When  love,  with  lofty  deeds  combined, 

Made  women  great  and  warriors  bold. 

When  first  I  saw  thee  standing  there, 

And  felt  the  pressure  of  thy  hand, 
I  scarcely  thought  if  thou  wert  fair, 

Or  of  the  highest  in  the  land  ; 
I  knew  thee  gentle,  pure  as  great, 

All  that  was  lovely,  meek  and  good; 
And  so  I  half  forgot  thy  state 

In  love  of  thy  bright  womanhood. 

And  many  a  sweet  sensation  came, 

That  lingers  in  my  bosom  yet, 
Like  that  celestial,  holy  flame 

That  vestals  tremble  to  forget. 
And  on  the  earth  or  in  the  sky, 

There's  not  a  thought  more  true  and  freat 
Than  that  which  beats  within  my  heart, 

In  pleasant  memory  of  thee. 

Lady,  I  gladly  would  have  brought 

Some  gem  that  on  thy  heart  may  live, 
But  this  poor  wreath  of  woven  thought 

Is  all  the  wealth  I  have  to  give. 
All  wet  with  heart-dew,  flush  with  love, 

I  lay  the  garland  at  thy  feet, 

29 


450  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

« 

Praying  the  angel-forms  above, 

To  weave  thee  one  more  pure  and  sweet." 

The  receptions  of  the  President  were  always  large- 
ly attended,  and  were  made  agreeable  to  everybody 
by  the  spirit  of  liveliness  as  well  as  of  courtesy  that 
prevailed.  A  visitor  says,  "  Last  evening  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  members  of  the  royal  family, 
together  with,  some  choice  specimens  of  the  Democracy, 
in  the  "  circle-room  "  of  the  White  House.  It  was  re- 
ception night,  and  the  latch-string,  in  the  shape  of  a 
handsome  negro,  was  '  outside  the  door.'  On  entering, 
I  found  a  room  full.  Mr.  Polk  is  so  affable  as  to  pre- 
vent one  from  feeling  any  awe  that  he  is  in  direct  com- 
munication with  the  concentrated  majesty  of  the  whole 
United  States  and  Territories. 

"  The  wife  of  the  President  was  seated  on  the  sofa, 
engaged  with  half  a  dozen  ladies  in  lively  conversation. 
Ill  and  clumsy  as  I  am  at  millinery,  yet  for  the  sake 
of  my  fair  readers,  I  will  try  to  describe  her  toilet.  A 
maroon  colored  velvet  dress,  with  short  sleeves  and 
high  in  the  neck,  trimmed  with  very  deep  lace,  and  a 
handsome  pink  head-dress  was  all  that  struck  the  eye 
of  the  general  observer.  Mr.  Willis  would,  no  doubt, 
have  noticed  many  other  little  accompaniments,  inter- 
esting to  ladies,  but  I  never  could  indulge  in  any  such 
familiarity.  Who  would  think  of  plucking  at  an  an- 
gel's wing  in  order  to  give  an  analysis  of  its  fibre  ? 
Mrs.  Polk  is  a  handsome,  intelligent  and  sensible  wo- 
man, better  looking  and  better  dressed,  than  any  of 
her  numerous  lady  visitors  present  on  the  occasion. 

"  Among  the  guests  of  distinction,  were  the  Hon. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  451 

Cave  Johnson,  Post-Master  General,  who  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  about  the  head  to  Mr.  Greeley,  of  the  Tri. 
bune ;  Mr.  Vinton,  of  Ohio,  Commodore  De  Kay,  Mr. 
Rockwell,  of  Connecticut ;  and  a  Wall  Street  financier, 
who  can  draw  a  larger  draft  on  London  than  any  other 
man  in  the  country.  There  were  two  or  three  pairs 
of  epaulettes ;  a  couple  of  pretty  deaf  and  dumb  girls, 
who  only  talked  with  their  fingers  ;  and  scores  of  others 
who  talked  with  their  eyes,  while  a  whole  regiment  of 
the  '  raw  material '  of  the  Democracy  in  frock  coats, 
stood  as  straight  as  grenadiers  around  the  outer  circle 
of  the  room,  gazing  in  silent  astonishment  at  the  Pres- 
ident and  the  chandeliers." 

On  one  of  the  reception  nights,  a  distinguished  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina,  remarked  in  a  loud  tone 
of  voice  to  Mrs.  Polk,  "  Madam,  there  is  a  woe  pro- 
nounced against  you  in  the  Bible."  Every  one  ceased 
conversing  for  a  moment,  when  Mrs.  Polk  inquired 
what  he  meant.  "  Well,  the  Bible  says,  '  Woe  unto 
you  wThen  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you.' "  A  general 
laugh  followed,  and  the  remark  was  considered  very 
appropriate. 

During  President  Polk's  administration,  the  war 
with  Mexico  was  inaugurated  by  a  difficulty  about  the 
boundary  line  of  Texas.  The  country  is  acquainted 
with  the  brilliant  successes  of  the  American  troops  in 
Mexico,  and  of  General  Scott's  glorious  successes, 
whereby  he  reached  and  revelled  in  the  halls  of  the 
Montezumas.  The  war  ended  in  1 848,  the  year  before 
Mr.  Polk's  retirement.  President  Polk's  easy,  courte- 
ous manners,  went  far  toward  allaying  the  opposition 


152  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

which  is  ever  apparent  in  times  of  national  trouble, 
and  the  affable  manners  of  Mrs.  Polk  rendered  his 
efforts  the  more  successful.  With  the  exception  of  the 
summer  of  1847,  spent  in  Tennessee,  Mrs.  Polk  remain 
ed  uninterruptedly  at  the  White  House  ;  the  visits  of 
members  of  her  family  cheering  the  otherwise  monoto- 
nous routine  of  her  life  there. 

,  A  gentleman  who  called  at  the  White  House  one 
evening  in  the  fall  of  1846,  writes  in  the  following 
terms  of  his  visit : — u  We  were  met  by  Mr.  Walker, 
the  Private  Secretary,  with  much  politeness,  the  Presi- 
dent being  absent,  and  were  received  by  Mrs.  Polk  in 
the  kindest,  and  at  the  same  time  most  graceful,  man- 
ner. It  may  be  said  with  truth,  she  is  a  lady  of  com- 
manding dignity  at  all  times ;  and  her  conversation, 
generally  of  the  most  agreeable  character,  is  always 
happily  directed.  In  my  judgment,  at  no  period  in 
our  history  have  we  seen  the  hospitalities  and  ceremo- 
nies of  the  White  House  more  handsomely  dispensed, 
or  displayed  with  greater  republican  simplicity  than 
at  the  present  time.  If  my  observation  be  correct,  no 
invidious  or  improper  distinction  seems  to  be  made  in 
the  circle  of  visitors.  There  is  no  imposing  movement 
or  extra  formality  exhibited  when  a  Secretary  or  some 
other  high  officer  of  Government  presents  himself. 
The  quiet  and  unheralded  citizen  receives  a  polite  and 
cordial  salutation,  as  well  as  the  haughty  millionaire, 
or  some  proud  Minister  of  State.  An/1  this  is  precisely 
as  it  should  be.  a  just  and  beautiful  commentary,  alike 
upon  our  noble  institutions,  and  the  charming  social 
qualities  of  the  President  and  his  family. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  453 

"  I  was  struck  not  only  with  the  easy  and  fascinat- 
ing manners  of  Mrs.  Polk,  but  equally  with  her  patri- 
otic sentiments  and  feelings.  A  gallant  Lieutenant 
just  from  the  bloody  but  glorious  conflict  at  Monterey, 
was  there  also ;  and  as  Mrs.  Polk  gracefully  carried 
back  his  thoughts  to  the  distant  field  of  his  early  fame, 
he  caught  the  inspiration  at  once,  and  dwelt  briefly  for 
her  entertainment  upon  some  of  the  thrilling  incidents 
of  those  scenes.  In  the  course  of  this  animated  con- 
versation to  which  I  was  a  favored  listener,  the  mod- 
est young  officer  remarked,  in  a  playful  manner,  that 
something  which  I  do  not  now  recollect  was  rather  too 
democratic ;  to  which  Mrs.  Polk  replied,  that  '  what- 
ever sustained  the  honor,  and  advanced  the  interests, 
of  the  country,  whether  regarded  as  democratic  or  not, 
she  admired  and  applauded.'  The  sentiment  was  a 
truly  noble  one." 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Com- 
merce has  also  given  to  the  public  a  sketch  of  a  visit  to 
Presidential  Mansion,  which  is  interesting.  "These  the 
musings  were  soon  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  Mrs. 
Polk  who,  with  an  easy  smile  and  a  graceful  simplicity 
of  manner,  bid  me  welcome  as  an  American  citizen, 
and  partaker  of  a  common  faith.  She  bears  her  hon- 
ors meekly,  and  surely  it  is  no  mean  elevation  to  be 
the  wife  of  an  American  President ;  an  elevation  to 
which  many  fond  and  ambitious  aspirations  are  doubt- 
less secretly  cherished  in  the  bosoms  of  high  minded 
American  women,  but  which  only  one,  now  and  then, 
can  enjoy.  And  this  one,  probably,  was  among  the 
last  to  expect  it,  till  the  news  came  tc  disturb  the 
quietude  of  her  happy  domestic  life  in  Tennessee. 


454  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

u  Mrs.  Polk  may  be  considered  a  felicitous  speci 
men  of  the  intelligent,  refined  American  lady,  who, 
without  artificial  airs,  without  any  assumption  of  state* 
liness  of  manners,  without  any  ambitious  ornaments  of 
dress,  exchanges  the  courtesies  of  social  life,  and  demeans 
herself  in  public,  with  a  sincerity  somewhat  rare  in  the 
current  circles  of  fashion. 

"  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  basis  of  her  style  of 
character  is  laid  in  a  true  and  unaffected  piety.  She  is 
regular  in  her  attendance  on  divine  worship  and  on  the 
communion  of  the  Lord's  supper.  In  our  conversation, 
she  expressed  her  great  delight,  among  similar  things, 
in  having  recently  witnessed  and  welcomed  the  admis- 
sion of  three  or  four  interesting  youths  to  the  commu- 
nion of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  she  is  a 
member.  Unlike  some  of  her  predecessors,  Mrs.  Polk 
has  no  taste  for  the  gay  amusements  of  the  lovers  of 
pleasure." 

In  the  early  fall  of  1847,  the  illness  of  Mrs.  Polk 
threw  a  cloud  of  sorrow  and  apprehension  over  many 
hearts ;  but  it  was  only  a  cloud,  and  the  recovery  of 
this  beloved  and  honored  lady  was  hailed  with  delight 
and  thanksgiving.  Some  one  writing  to  the  Baltimore 
Sun,  says,  "  This  fall  we  have  a  peculiar  sorrow,  in  the 
dangerous  illness  of  the  honored  lady  of  President 
Polk.  She  came  among  us  almost  a  stranger,  respected 
on  account  of  her  station,  but  unknown  to  most  of  us  ; 
she  is  now  the  pride  of  society,  as  well  as  the  object 
of  our  tender  affection.  The  social  circles  of  Wash- 
ington gratefully  acknowledge  the  happiness  she  has 
diffused  through  them ;  the  needy  and  suffering  bless 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  455 

God  for  such  a  friend.  All  admire  her  character,  all 
revere  her  virtues,  and  all  with  one  consent  join  in  sup- 
plicating the  Father  of  mercies  to  spare  her  long,  very 
long  to  her  distinguished  husband  and  the  friends  to 
whom  she  is  so  dear." 

A  few  clays  before  the  close  of  his  administration, 
a  splendid  dinner  party  was  given  by  the  President  to 
General  Taylor.  At  the  levee,  the  same  evening,  a 
great  concourse  of  persons — acquaintances,  admirers, 
and  friends — assembled  to  pay  their  last  respects  and 
take  their  last  adieu  of  the  President  and  his  wife. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Mrs.  Polk  participated  for  the  last  time  in  the 
solemn  services  of  the  communion.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bal- 
lentyne  addressed  the  distinguished  lady  in  a  most  ap- 
propriate manner ;  and  on  the  conclusion  of  the  cere- 
monies, the  pastor  and  a  large  number  of  the  commu- 
nicants approached  and  bade  her  an  affectionate  fare- 
well. 

The  following  morceau  appears  in  the  Washington 
Union : — 

A  FAREWELL  TO  MRS.  POLK. 

"  Lady,  farewell !  amid  the  gloom  of  grief, 

How  many  a  heart  will  utter  that  sad  sound! 
Farewell !  for  thee  a  thousand  hearts  will  mourn  ; 

So  much  of  friendship  lost,  of  sorrow  found. 
And  thou  shalt  leave  a  void  in  Friendship's  hall, 

Where  joyous  notes  were  once  so  wont  to  rise, 
Like  that  fair  Pleiad  which  forsook  its  home, 

And  caused  to  mourn  the  sisters  of  the  skies. 
But  thou  must  go  :  yet  with  thee  thoa  shalt  hear 

A  stranger's  hope  upon  the  distant  way, 

And  only  fade  to  give  a  calmer  day. 


456  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

A  welcome,  too,  I'd  give  thee  to  my  home, 

My  sunny  home,  the  old  Palmetto  soil ; 
"Where  many  a  heart,  all  warm  and  true  and  kind^ 

Shall  chase  away  the  gloom  of  travel's  toil. 
And  may  life  pass  as  soft  as  sunset  hour, 

"When  gentle  rays  gleam  on  the  skies  above, 
And  may  each  pulse  in  sweetest  union  beat 

To  the  soft  music  of  the  harp  of  love. 

"  Constancy." 


The  departure  from  Washington  and  return  to 
Nashville  was  a  continued  scene  of  ovation  and  tri- 
umph. Everywhere  along  the  route,  demonstrations 
of  respect  and  esteem  greeted  the  noble  travellers. 
Arriving  at  home,  the  citizens  of  Nashville  showed 
them  every  possible  mark  of  regard. 

Before  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Polk's  presidential 
term,  he  had  purchased  a  house  in  Nashville,  from  the 
Hon.  Felix  Grundy,  in  the  most  commanding  position 
in  the  city.  It  was  enlarged  and  ornamented  and  put 
in  the  most  complete  and  elegant  order.  Ever  since  it 
has  been  known  as  "  Polk  Place'1.  The  surrounding 
grounds  are  tastefully  and  elaborately  arranged  and 
adorned  with  flowers  and  shrubbery.  They  extend  from 
Vine  street  on  the  east,  to  Spruce  street  on  the  west ;  and 
from  Union  street  on  the  north,  to  Polk  avenue,  which 
leads  from  the  mansion  to  Church  street,  on  the  south. 
The  dwelling  is  large  and  imposing,  and  the  grounds 
ample,  forming  one  of  the  most  attractive  places  in  the 
city.  This  was  the  chosen  spot  for  the  declining  days 
of  the  recent  occupants  of  the  White  House. 

Soon  after  their  return  from  Washington,  the  ex- 
President  and  his  wife  contemplated  a  tour  in  Europe; 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  457 

then  a  much  more  serious  undertaking  than  at  the 
present  day.  He  even  engaged  a  courier  who  could 
speak  and  write  French  and  German,  to  obviate  many 
difficulties  of  the  journey.  But  ill-health  and  the 
speedy  termination  of  the  statesman's  life,  put  an  end 
to  the  pleasant  scheme. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Polk,  a  small  but  beautiful 
temple,  of  native  marble,  was  erected  on  the  grounds, 
on  the  eastern  front,  beneath  which  lie  the  remains  of 
the  distinguished  statesman.  On  three  side3  of  a  mon- 
ument within  the  temple,  there  are  full  and  lengthy 
inscriptions,  recording  the  principal  events  of  a  useful 
and  honored  life.  The  death  of  her  husband  was  the 
only  affliction  of  Mrs.  Polk's  life.  It  had  been  invari- 
ably calm,  cheerful,  and  happy.  "  In  this  great  trial 
and  deep  draught  of  the  waters  of  bitterness,  she  was 
sustained  and  consoled  by  the  divine  principles  and 
precious  promises  of  her  religion.  She  was  enabled 
by  faith  to  look  forward  to  a  reunion  in  the  better 
land,  with  him  on  whose  strong  arm  she  had  so  long 
leaned,  and  to  whom  her  attachment  and  companion- 
ship had  been  so  dear.  She  had  removed  her  mem- 
bership from  the  church  in  "Washington,  and  had  be- 
come connected  with  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Nashville,  of  which  the  lamented  Dr.  John  T.  Edgar 
was  so  long  the  beloved  pastor.7'  The  sympathizing  at- 
tention paid  to  Mrs.  Polk  in  her  grief,  was  universal. 
From  every  distinguished  lady  and  gentleman  of  her 
wide  acquaintance  she  received  letters  of  condolence 
and  consolation. 

The  study  of  the  President,  a  large  room  in  the  seo 


458  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ond  story,  commanding  a  view  of  the  Capitol,  is  kept 
by  Mrs.  Polk*  just  as  lie  left  it.  Here  are  his  books, 
Lis  papers,  Lis  pen  and  all  the  little  articles  that  be- 
token  an  apartment  in  daily  use ;  as  if  he  had  just 
stepped  out  and  would  soon  return.  It  is  kept  in 
order  by  her  own  hands. 

Such  public  marks  of  respect  have  been  shown  to 
Mrs.  Polk  as  it  has  been  no  other  lady's  fortune  to  re- 
ceive. Prominent  men  of  all  classes  and  callings  rarely 
visit  the  city  without  paying  their  respects  to  her.  It 
was  for  years  the  habit  of  the  Legislature  to  call  upon 
her,  in  a  body,  on  New  Year's  Day.  Large  delegations 
of  Masons,  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  of  Sons  of  Temperance, 
at  the  various  meetings  of  their  societies,  have  done 
themselves  the  honor  to  be  presented  to  her.  Num- 
bers of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  have,  at  different  times,  visited 
Polk  Place  to  evince  their  sincere  respect  for  her  whose 
life  has  been  so  pure  and  blameless,  and  whose  Chris- 
tian character  is  so  shining  an  example. 

During  the  Confederate  days  of  Nashville,  Mrs. 
Polk  received  the  kind  attentions  of  the  supreme  offi- 
cers ;  among  others  of  Gen.  Beauregard,  of  Gen.  Breck- 
enridge,  and  of  Gen.  Preston.  Afterward,  Gen.  Buell, 
Gen.  Thomas,  Gen.  Nelson,  Gen.  Mitchell,  Gen.  Crit- 
tenden, Gen.  McCook,  Gen.  Sherman,  Gen.  Wood,  and 
many  others,  and  staff  officers  innumerable,  called  to 
pay  their  duty  to  the  distinguished  mistress  of  Polk 
Place. 

In  a  letter  from  a  visitor  at  Melrose,  the  residence 
of  Mrs.  Gov..  A.  V.  Brown,  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  459 

is  the  following  pleasant  description  : — "  Among  the 
pleasures  that  wre  most  value  and  trust  never  to  lose, 
was  meeting  and  becoming  acquainted,  while  at  Mel- 
rose, with  one  of  Nashville's  most  valued  residents — 
Mrs.  President  Polk.  By  far  the  most  interesting  spot 
in  that  city  is  Polk  Place,  this  lady's  home,  an  elegant 
and  stately  erection,  the  portico  of  the  noblest  archi- 
tecture, exquisite  in  design  and  proportion.  The  house 
has  large,  lofty  rooms,  a  noble  hall,  rich  in  presents 
received  by  Mrs.  Polk  during  the  presidential  career 
of  her  husband.  Among  them  is  a  beautiful  drawing 
of  Niagara,  a  fine  oil  painting  of  De  Soto,  and  walking 
sticks  in  curious  shapes  and  of  precious  looking  wood. 
Besides  these,  the  walls  are  hung  with  portraits  of 
illustrious  men,  and  fine  likenesses  of  the  President, 
repeated  at  different  ages.  In  this  cherished  retire- 
ment, enlivened  by  the  presence  of  a  sweet  little  rela- 
tive, an  adopted  daughter  of  Mrs.  Polk's,  men  of  all 
parties  meet,  forgetting  their  political  differences  in 
social  enjoyment. 

"  But  the  house,  noble  as  it  is,  is  not  the  goal  of 
the  visitor's  pilgrimage.  As  at  the  Hermitage,  the 
true  shrine  is  to  be  found  in  the  shade,  the  verdure, 
the  fragrance  of  a  sloping  garden,  amid  dazzling  masses 
of  verbena,  geraniums,  heliotrope,  and  jessamine.  In 
the  centre  of  this  lovely  mosaic  is  a  fine  monument, 
erected  over  the  remains  of  him  whose  brief  and  bright 
career  was  cut  suddenly  short,  enriched  by  an  elegant 
inscription  from  Mrs.  Polk's  pen;  a  true  and  noble 
record,  honorable  alike  to  the  departed  and  to  the  sur- 
vivor.    Here,  amid  the  song  of  birds  and  the  odor  of 


460  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

flowers,  we  paid  willing  Homage  to  all  that  remained 
of  one  who  died  lamented  by  his  countrymen  of  every 
sect  and  party. 

"  His  mourners  were  two  parts,  his  friends  and  foes. 
He  had  kept  the  whiteness  of  his  soul,  and  thus  men  o'er 
him  wept. 

"  Meeting  Mrs.  Polk  was  like  seeing  the  original  of 
a  familiar  picture,  and  in  a  few  moments  after  seeing 
her,  we  were  surprised  to  find  ourself  forgetting,  in  a 
confiding  feeling,  that  we  were  conversing  with  a  lady 
who  had  presided  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  with  a 
wider  popularity  than  has  since  been  attained  by  any 
of  her  successors.  She  seems  to  have  a  warm  and  un- 
envying  sympathy  in  the  success  of  others,  and  in  her 
conversation  there  is, an  expression  of  those  affectionate 
sympathies  which  made  her  beloved  in  a  more  elevated 
sphere.  She  has  a  pleasing  figure,  what  we  call  lady- 
like, delicate,  erect,  and  graceful,  wTith  a  great  deal  of 
manner,  in  the  last  respect  resembling  the  late  Mrs. 
Madison.  Mrs.  Polk's  mental  endowments,  as  well  as 
her  personal  qualities,  combine  to  render  her  a  general 
favorite,  while  her  manners  and  character  give  a  per- 
manence to  her  social  success  by  converting  admirers 
into  friends." 

In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  Mrs.  Polk's  life  has 
passed  in  ease  and  affluence.  Her  father  wras  compar- 
atively wealthy,  and  Mr.  Polk's  circumstances  were 
always  good.  In  addition  to  his  property  in  Tennes- 
see, he  owned  a  large  and  flourishing  plantation  in 
Mississippi.  Chief  Justice  Catron,  Major  Daniel  Gra- 
ham, and  other  distinguished   personal  friends  have 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  401 

attended  to   Mrs.  Polk's   financial  affairs  during  hex 
widowhood,  and  Lave  thus  relieved  her  from  all  care. 

Mrs.  Polk,  though  ever  willing  to  converse,  and 
always  enriching  the  conversation  from  her  ready  store 
of  information  and  observation,  is  remarkably  reticent 
in  regard  to  her  own  life.  Her  most  familiar  friends  fail 
to  persuade  an  account  of  incidents  relating  purely  to 
herself;  and  it  is  only  by  the  casual  letters  of  visitors 
and  the  few  descriptions  of  some  friends,  that  any  thing 
is  known.  She  is  never  seen  in  public  except  at  church. 
The  visits  of  chosen  friends  are  grateful  to  her,  but 
she  does  not  return  them,  and  no  attraction  is  sufficient 
to  draw  her  away  from  the  home  where  cluster  so 
many  dear  and  sacred  memories.  Occasionally  she 
spends  a  few  days  with  her  relatives  in  other  counties. 

Having  no  children,  Mrs.  Polk  some  time  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  adopted  a  niece,  who  has  ever 
since  been  an  inmate  of  her  house.  No  employment 
could  have  served  better  to  console  the  many  lonely 
hours,  that  must  be  the  inevitable  heritage  of  a  wu'd- 
owed  heart,  than  the  charge  of  a  daughter. 

As  Mrs.  Polk  grows  older  her  life  becomes  more 
devout  and  retired.  She  is  not,  nor  ever  has  been,  an 
active  worker  in  any  thing,  for  the  system  under  which 
she  wras  reared,  in  common  with  the  higher  class  of 
southern  people  unfitted  her  for  the  pursuits  of  in- 
dustry. 

Accustomed  from  infancy  to  be  served  by  the 
hands  of  slaves,  she  found  no  stimulant  to  develop 
the  muscular  organs,  without  which  there  cannot  exist 
the  highest  order  of  mentality.     In  her  daily  life  she 


462  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

illustrates  the  effects  of  her  early  training ;  gentle,  re 
fined,  and  exclusive,  she  has  no  conception  of  the 
depths  of  human  character  nor  the  scope  of  human 
experience,  and  has  not  found  the  sublime  heights  to 
which  a  human  being  through  suffering  can  attain. 
She  does  not  possess  that  most  contagious  and  popu- 
lar of  elements — cheerfulness,  nor  yet  is  she  generous 
and  warm-hearted.  In  her  presence  one  is  impressed 
with  the  repose  and  dignity  of  her  bearing,  and  the 
entire  refinement  of  her  ladylike  deportment ;  but  the 
life-giving  principles  of  impulsive  affection  and  open- 
handed  liberality,  which  keep  the  heart  young  long 
after  the  bloom  and  elasticity  of  youth  have  departed 
forever,  are  not  characteristics  of  hers. 

Mrs.  Polk's  position  in  her  native  State  and  in  the 
South  were  such  that  her  means  of  doing  good  were 
immense  ;  holding  a  position  such  as  no  other  woman 
of  her  section  has,  until  recently,  held — that  of  a 
President's  wife — it  has  been  in  her  power  to  wield  a 
mighty  and  beneficial  influence.  Had  she  chosen  any 
art  or  mode  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  those 
about  her,  or  of  adorning  and  rendering  attractive 
social  life  in  her  own  circle,  in  the  numberless  ways 
which  to  one  in  her  situation  were  easy  and  practical, 
the  good  she  might  have  done  would  have  been  incal- 
culable ;  but  her  morbid  exclusiveness  rendered  her 
unsociable,  and  her  Christian  virtues,  too  much  in- 
clined to  austerity,  closed  her  house  to  every  form  of 
gayety. 

She  might  have  been  a  Roland  or  a  Nightingale. 
She  chose  rather  to  be  the  representative  of  her  hus- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  463 

band's  name  and  greatness,  and  was  satisfied  to  rest  in 
the  shadows  thereof. 

She  was  born  in  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  centu- 
ry, and  is  a  pure  type  of  a  class  which  is  rapidly 
becoming  extinct.  With  her  will  pass  away  many  of 
the  excellences  and  not  a  few  of  the  foibles  of  a  class 
modelled  after  the  aristocracy  of  the  old  world  on 
their  graftings  in  the  new.  Her  life  has  been  spent  in 
an  age  and  country  where  chivalric  honor  to  woman  is 
a  matter  of  national  pride,  yet  in  a  land  of  slaves  and 
slavery.  The  young  and  middle-aged  of  our  day  will 
never  know  the  opportunities  of  time  and  means  which 
she,  half  a  century  ago,  enjoyed;  for  the  South  is 
changed,  and  verily  old  things  have  passed  away 
and  all  are  new.  The  present  generation,  thrown 
more  upon  their  own  resources  and  passing  through 
the  perplexities  of  change  and  misfortune,  will  grow 
away  from  the  old  regime,  and  may  perhaps  lose  many 
of  their  virtues  with  too  few  of  their  faults. 

During  the  late  civil  war,  she  suffered  in  common 
with  the  people  of  the  South,  losing  much  of  her  valua- 
ble property,  but  was  fortunately  left  with  sufficient 
means  to  enable  her  to  live  in  her  usual  style  of  com- 
fort. Her  sympathies  were  with  the  section  of  coun- 
try in  which  she  was  reared,  but  her  conduct  was 
throughout  befitting  her  station,  and  no  expression  or 
action  of  hers  is  a  reflection  of  aus;ht  save  refined  bear 
ing  and  high-toned  sensibility. 

Surrounded  with  comforts  and  luxuries,  and  enjoy- 
ing the  companionship  of  her  relatives  and  friends, 
Mrs.  Polk  glides  calmly  down  the  vale  of  years,  with 


464  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  memory  of  a  past  all  brightness,  and  the  hopes  of  a 
future  all  peace.  The  life-time  imitation  of  a  pure 
and  useful  standard  of  excellence  has  rewarded  her 
with  a  glorious  fame,  and  she  dwells  among  the  friends 
of  her  youth,  honored  and  respected,  trusted  and 
beloved. 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  465 


MRS.  ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 

The  importance  attached  to  Presidential  honors  is 
not  in  our  country  the  inheritance  of  persons  born  to 
the  wearing  of  them.  Monarchial  governments,  by  tra- 
dition and  law,  desiguate  not  only  who  is  the  "  chief 
magistrate,"  but  also  provide  candidates  in  advance  for 
the  succession.  People,  therefore,  born  to  such  high 
estate,  are  always,  from  infancy  onward,  objects  of 
world-wide  interest ;  and  the  minutest  acts  of  their  lives, 
before  they  achieve  their  inherited  position  as  well  a* 
after,  are  subjects  of  note  from  a  thousand  pens. 

In  our  own  country,  the  popular  will  selects  its 
candidates  for  the  highest  office  within  its  gift  as  often 
from  those  who  have  suddenly  received  popularity,  as 
from  those  who  have,  by  antecedent  histor}?-,  become 
known  to  fame.  It  is  probably  true  that,  just  before 
the  breaking  out  of  actual  hostilities  between  this 
country  and  Mexico,  there  was  no  military  officer — his 
long  and  faithful  public  service  considered — who  was  as 
little  known  to  the  country  at  large  as  General  Taylor. 

That  the  future  "  Lady  of  the  White  House  "  who 
was  buried  in  the  seclusion  of  his  retired  private  life, 
should  be  little  known  out  of  her  domestic  circle,  is, 
therefore,  not  surprising  ;  and  that  a  family,  the  mem 
bers  of  which  had  always  courted  seclusion  and  were 
satisfied  with  making  perfect  the  narrow  circle  of  theii 
accepted  duties,  should  shrink  from  publicity  and  no 
30 


466  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.     . 

tice,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
there  is  but  little  left  to  afford  material  for  the  pen  of 
the  historian. 

Mrs.  Tavlor  and  her  daughter  "  Betty,  "  who  for  a 
while  shone  forth  as  the  acknowledged  "  first  ladies  of 
the  land,'1  never  sympathized  with  the  dispkvy  and  bustle 
of  the  White  House,  and  they  always  performed  such 
official  duties  as  were  imperatively  forced  upon  them, 
by  their  exalted  position,  as  a  task  that  had  no  com- 
pensation for  the  sacrifices  attending  it. 

The  key  to  Mrs.  Taylor's  life  was  touched  by 
General  Taylor  himself,  who,  when  receiving  from  an 
appointed  speaker,  at  Baton  Bouge,  the  official  an- 
nouncement that  he  wras  elected  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  among  other  things  said  : 

"  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  my  house 
has  been  the  tent,  and  my  home  the  battle-field."  This 
statement,  which  might  have  been  used  with  propriety 
as  figurative  language  by  any  officer  who  had  been,  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  on  active  duty,  was 
litterally  true  of  General  Taylor's  experience.  He 
was  emphatically  a  hard-working  officer :  either  from 
choice  or  accident,  his  public  life  was  never  varied  by 
those  terms  of  "official  repose1'  which  give  officers  a 
rest  at  Washington,  at  West  Point,  or  at  head-quar- 
ters in  some  large  city. 

On  the  contrary,  General  Taylor,  from  the  time  he 
entered  the  army  as  a  lieutenant  until  he  laid  aside  his 
well-earned  commission  as  a  Major-General  to  assume 
the  highest  responsibility  of  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  had  never  been  out  of  what  might  be 
termed  the  severest  frontier  duties. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  467 

He  was  known  as  having  acquired  the  largest  ex- 
perience as  an  "Indian  fighter."  He  was  alike  the 
hero  of  the  u  Black  Hawk,"  as  he  was  the  most  promi- 
nent officer  in  the  Seminole  war.  Hence  it  is  that 
Mrs.  Taylor,  more  than  any  other  mistress  of  the 
White  House,  had  seen  more  army  service,  and  passed 
through  more  varied  frontier  exj3eriences ;  for  she 
would  never,  under  any  circumstances,  if  she  could 
avoid  it,  separate  herself  from  her  husband,  no  matter 
how  severe  were  the  trials  resulting  from  wifely  devo- 
tion. 

This  heroic  spirit,  that  gives  such  grace  and  beauty 
to  useful  qualities,  carried  her  cheerfully  to  Tampa 
Bay,  that  she  might  be  near  her  husband  when  he  was 
endeavoring  to  suppress  the  wily  Seminoles  in  the 
swamps  and  everglades  of  Florida ;  and  as  the  long 
previous  years  in  the  Western  country  made  her  fami- 
liar with  the  attributes  of  savage  triumphs,  so  the  final 
defeats  that  eventually  secured  our  settlers  a  peaceful 
home  on  the  rich  plains  of  Mexico,  and  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  prosperity  of  the  great  West. 

In  all  this  quarter  of  a  century  General  Taylor  so 
feelingly  alluded  to,  when  his  house  was  a  tent  and  his 
home  the  battle-field,  it  wTas  seldom  that  Mrs.  Taylor 
was  not  at  his  side,  bearing  her  share  of  the  hardships 
incidental  to  her  husband's  life,  and  cheerfully  attend- 
ing to  the  duties  which  fell  to  her  to  perform.  All 
this  while,  the  modest  accommodations  were  acceptable, 
the  log  cabin  in  winter,  the  tent  if  necessary  in  sum- 
mer, with  the  coarse  but  substantial  food  of  the  sol- 
diers, and  often  even  this  not  in  abundance.    Deprived 


468  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOU3E. 

of  the  little  elegancies  which  are  so  necessary  for  a 
woman's  comfort — separated  from  the  society  of  her 
children,  who  were  almost  always  away  at  school — 
nothing  stood  in  the  way  of  her  fealty  to  her  husband, 
and  she  was  content  thus  to  live. 

Through  all  these  trying  circumstances  Mrs.  Taylor, 
by  her  good  sense,  her  modesty,  her  uncomplaining 
spirit,  her  faculty  of  adding  to  the  comforts  and  sur- 
roundings of  her  husband's  life, — filled  the  measure  of 
her  duty  and  set  an  example  of  the  true  woman,  espe- 
cially a  soldier's  wife,  that  her  sex  for  all  time  can  ad- 
mire and  point  to  as  worthy  of  imitation. 

Her  domestic  duties,  so  far  as  they  related  to  the 
comfort  of  her  famil}~,  she  would  never  intentionally 
abandon  for  a  single  day  to  menial  hands.  Especially 
was  she  careful  in  the  preparation  of  the  food  for  the 
table,  and  however  simple  the  meal  might  be,  she  saw 
that  the  material  was  carefully  prepared.  And  this 
home  training  General  Taylor  displayed  wher  in  North- 
ern Mexico,  away  from  this  domestic  care ;  for  while 
he  was  indifferent  to  a  degree  about  luxuries,  yet  what 
he  did  eat,  he  peristed  in  having  carefully  seh-cted  and 
prepared  with  due  regard  to  healthfulness;  and  his  tent 
was  ever  a  model  of  neatness  and  rude  comfor<, 

Mrs.  Taylors  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Smith. 
She  was  born  in  Maryland,  and  came  of  a  family  iden- 
tified for  their  substantial  qualities  which  distinguished 
intelligent  agriculturists.  She  received  such  an  educa- 
tion  as  was  at  the  command  of  female  pupils  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century.  An  education  which  con- 
sidered the  practical,  rather  than  the  intellectual,  and 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  4G9 

to  this  pliine  of  her  school  life,  she  was  trained  with 
special  care  in  all  the  accomplishments  of  domestic  duties, 
"  Maryland  'house-keeping  "  was  for  years  in  the 
south-west,  and  is  still  among  the  "  old  settlers,"  a  com 
plimentary  remark,  if  applied  to  a  lady  from  any  part 
of  the  country,  so  excellent  was  considered  the  house- 
wives' work  of  those  who  learned  their  duties  on  the 
tide-waters  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  among  those 
examples  of  domestic  perfection  in  her  State,  Mrs.  Tay- 
lor was  eminent.  And  to  be  more  than  this, — to  make 
her  home  happy, — she  evidently  had  no  ambition. 
Marrying  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Army,  who 
was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  was  appointed  from  "  pri- 
vate life,"  her  husband  had  no  associations  that  took 
him  to  the  North,  which  independent  of  official  oppor- 
tunities, are  increased  by  a  student's  career  at  West 
Point.  "  Captain  Taylor,"  was  therefore,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  public  life,  confined  to  the  frontiers,  and 
was  known  as  one  of  the  ';  hard  working  "  and  "  fkdit- 
ing  officers."  His  boyhood  days  were  made  up  of 
adventures  with  Indians,  and  around  the  fireside  of 
his  own  home,  listening  to  his  father  and  his  fathers 
friends,  talk  over  the  struggles,  sufferings,  and  triumphs 
they  endured  as  active  participators  in  the  Revolution 
under  the  leadership  of  General  Washington  and 
Wayne,  and  of  their  subsequent  hard  lives  after  they 
left  Virginia,  to  found  homes  "  in  the  dark  and  bloody 
ground." 

To  accept  with  pleasure  the  incidents  of  the  conse- 
quent life,  was  the  true  spirit  of  the  American  heroine 
and  to  adorn  it  through  long  years  of  privations  and 


470  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

sufferings  as  Mrs.  Taylor  did,  is  the  noblest  tribute 
that  can  be  paid  to  her  virtues.  For  sixteen  years 
after  the  conclusion  of  our  second  war  with  England, 
the  time  indicated  in  history  as  the  "  treaty  of  Ghent," 
Major  Taylor  spent  an  active  life  in  what  was  then 
known  as  our  western  frontiers.  He  established  forts 
and  corresponded  with  the  Government  on  Indiar 
affairs.  His  custom  was  to  personally  superintend  the 
varied  and  difficult  labors  imposed  upon  him.  All 
this  while  he  was  literally  in  the  savage  wilder 
ness,  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  then  a  young  wife,  persistently 
accompanied  him.  To  her  attentions  to  her  husband 
the  country  was  largely  indebted  for  his  usefulness, 
and  by  her  influence  and  example  the  subordinates 
who  were  attached  to  the  pioneer  army,  were  made 
contented  and  uncomplaining. 

This  era  of  Mrs.  Taylor's  life,  she  was  won't  always 
to  speak  of  with  subdued  enthusiasm. 

It  was  while  thus  living;  that  her  children  were 
born.  They  followed  her  fortunes  as  long  as  a  moth- 
er's care  was  absolutely  necessary  for  their  safety ;  but 
the  moment  they  were  sufficiently  matured  to  leave 
her  protection,  she  submitted  to  the  painful  sacrifice 
of  having  them  sent  to  her  relatives  in  the  "  settle- 
ments," for  a  less  perilous  life  and  the  enjoyment  of 
the  facilities  of  educational  institutions  ;  but  she  never 
thought  of  abandoning  her  husband,  her  first  duty 
being  for  his  interest  and  comfort.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  when  the  "  Florida  war"  began,  that  the  Captain 
Taylor  of  twenty  years  previous  was  now  a  Colonel, 
and  that  his  past  services  should  have  secured  for  him 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  471 

the  difficult  and  dangerous  honor  of  takins;  command 
against  the  treacherous  Seminoles  of  the  Everglades. 
True  to  the  characteristics  of  his  whole  life,  he  quietly 
proceeded  to  this  new  field  of  action,  and  to  the  sur- 
prise of  the  country,  the  people  of  which  now  began 
to  know  Colonel  Taylor,  it  wras  heralded  in  the  papers 
that  Mrs.  Taylor  had  established  herself  at  Tampa 
Bay.  It  was  looked  upon  at  the  time  as  a  piece  of 
unpardonable  recklessness  that  she  should  thus  risk 
her  life,  when  to  the  outward  world  the  odds  at  the 
time  seemed  to  be  against  her  husband's  success.  But 
she  evidently  knew  his  character  and  her  own  duty 
best,  and  through  the  lasting  struggle,  made  so  terrible 
and  romantic  by  the  incidents  of  the  battle  of  Okee- 
Chobee,  Mrs.  Taylor  was  of  immense  service  in  super- 
intending the  wants  of  the  sick  and  w7ounded,  but 
more  especially  so  by  shedding  over  disaster  the  hope- 
fulness created  by  her  self-possession  and  seeming 
insensibility  to  the  probability  of  the  failure  of  her 
husband's  final  triumph  over  the  enemy. 

At  the  conclusion  of  active  hostilities,  the  then 
Secretary  of  War,  addressing  Gen.  Jesup,  said :  "  You 
will  establish  posts  at  Tampa,  and  on  the  eastern  shore, 
and  wherever  else  they  are  in  your  opinion  necessary 
to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country ;  and  I  would 
suggest  the  propriety  of  leaving  Col.  Zachary  Taylor, 
of  the  First  Infantry,  in  command  of  them."  Agreea- 
bly to  this  order,  General  Taylor  in  time  of  peace 
repeated  his  previously  pursued  life  on  the  northwest- 
ern frontiers,  of  forming  new  military  stations  in  the 
wilderness  and  paving  the  way  for  the  amelioration  of 


472  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

peaceful  populations.  If  lie  had  one  thought  that  he 
needed  repose,  or  that  his  patriotism  was  overtaxed  by 
such  a  continued  demand  on  his  time,  he  had  the  com- 
forts of  a  home  and  a  devoted  wife  writh  him,  and  thus 
cheered  and  sustained,  he  patiently  performed  his  severe 
duties ;  thus  the  country  was  indebted  to  Mrs.  Taylor 
for  the  constant  services  performed  by  her  gallant 
husband. 

In  the  year  1840,  General  Taylor,  who  now  had 
almost  become  forgotten  in  this  obscurity  of  the  Florida 
swamps,  asked  to  be  relieved  of  his  command,  and 
soon  afterward  arrived  with  his  family  in  New  Orleans. 
The  "  Old  Colonel,"  as  he  was  called  by  the  citizens  of 
Louisiana,  came  unostentatiously,  and  was  permitted 
much  to  his  own  gratification,  to  proceed  quietly  to 
Baton  Rouge,  which  place  should  be  for  awhile,  at 
least,  the  headquarters  of  his  family.  With  this  un- 
derstanding, Mrs.  Taylor  joyfully  established  herself 
with  surroundings  more  comfortable  than  were  afforded 
in  the  Florida  swamps. 

This  idea  encouraged  her  to  arrange  a  home  which 
she  hoped  would  only  be  abandoned  when  the  "  Gen- 
eral "  had  selected  some  quiet  place,  where  they  would 
together  peacefully  end  their  days. 

The  barracks  at  Baton  Rouge  are  picturesquely  sit- 
uated upon  the  high  land,  that  here,  in  a  sort  of  a 
peninsula,  rising  out  of  the  surrounding  level,  reaches 
the  river.  The  soldiers  usually  quartered  at  Baton 
Rouge  were  mustering  along  the  banks  of  the  Red 
River,  and  the  buildings  were  left,  save  a  single  com- 
pany of  infantry,  without  occupants,  and  Mrs.  Taylor 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  473 

could  select  her  "  quarters"  with  all  the  facilities  the 
place  afforded.  Leaving  the  imposing  brick  buildings, 
with  their  comfortable  arrangements  for  housekeeping, 
to  the  entire  possession  of  one  or  two  officers'  families, 
Mrs.  Taylor  selected  a  little  tumble-down  cottage,  sit- 
uated directly  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  which  was 
originally  erected  for,  and  inhabited  by  the  Captain- 
Commandant,  when  the  post  belonged  to  Spain. 

In  the  long  years  of  its  existence,  the  cottage,  consist- 
ing only  of  a  suite  of  three  or  four  rooms,  inclosed  under 
galleries,  had  become  quaint  in  appearance  and  much  out 
of  repair,  and  was  hardly  considered  else  than  a  sort  of 
admitted  wreck  of  former  usefulness,  left  because  it  was 
a  harmless  familiar  object,  entirely  out  of  the  way  of  the 
lawn  and  parade  ground.  To  Mr-.  Taylor's  eye,  this 
old  cottage  seemed  to  possess  peculiar  charms,  for  she 
promptly  decided  to  give  up  the  better  quarters  at  her 
disposal,  as  the  wife  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  military  department,  and  move  into  this  cottage. 

With  the  aid  of  her  own  servants,  two  in  number? 
and  the  usual  assistance  always  afforded  by  invalid  sol- 
diers unfit  for  military  duties,  she  soon  put  the  neglected 
place  in  proper  order.  It  was  remarked  by  the  people  of 
Baton  Rouge,  how  rapidly  the  old  "  Spanish  Comman- 
dant's cottage"  became  transformed  into  a  comfortable 
dwelling  under  the  superintendence  of  the  new  occu- 
pants. And  in  a  country  where  so  much  is  left  to  ser- 
vants, and  where  the  mistress  and  daughters  had  so 
many  at  command,  they  set  the  noble  example  of  doing 
much  themselves. 

The  work  employed  their  minds,  and  they  were 


474  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

happier  in  the  performance  of  the  details  of  their  well 
directed  industry.  It  is  certainly  true  that  Mrs.  Tay 
lor  and  her  daughter,  Miss  Betty,  were  evidently  too 
much  engaged  in  managing  their  household  duties  to 
have  time  for  unhappiness  or  regrets,  if  they  had  cause 
to  indulge  in  them. 

The  house  had  but  four  rooms,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  a  verandah,  and  thus  in  the  hottest  weather 
there  was  always  a  shady  side,  and  in  the  coldest,  one 
most  sheltered  ;  and  so  cozy  and  comfortable  did  the 
house  become  under  the  management  of  its  new  mis- 
tress, that  Mrs.  Ta}dor  was  most  thoroughly  justified 
in  her  choice  by  the  universal  commendation  of  the 
citizens  of  the  town, — that  it  was  now  the  pleasantest 
residence  in  all  the  country  round,  and  its  inmates  were 
probably  as  contented  and  happy  as  people  can  be. 

General  Taylor  himself  was  not  idle,  but  was  kept 
busy  visiting  Fort  Gibson  and  Fort  Smith,  until  finally. 
to  be  near  his  family,  was  at  his  own  request  trans- 
ferred to  Fort  Jesup,  Louisiana.  He  bought  the 
house  selected  by  his  family  within  his  military  de- 
partment. The  domestic  life  of  General  Taylor's 
family  was  now  complete.  He  had  performed  public 
duties  enough  his  friends  thought,  to  permit  him  to  in- 
dulge in  the  luxury  of  being  left  quietly  at  the  head- 
quarters of  a  frontier  department,  where  ho  could  en- 
joy repose  from  severe  military  duties,  look  after  his 
neglected  private  interests,  and  for  the  few  years  that 
remained  live  a  kind  of  private  life.  Alas  !  how  the 
dream  was  to  be  dissipated. 

Texas  was  at  this  time  a  State,  acting  independently 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  475 

of  Mexico,  yet  unacknowledged  as  such  by  the  mother 
country.  The  Texans,  inspired  by  the  difficulties  of 
their  situation,  and  surrounded  by  political  influence 
in  the  United  States,  agitated  the  question  of  coming 
into  the  Union.  The  result  was  that  General  Santa 
Anna,  then  President  of  Mexico,  made  preparations 
which  contemplated  the  reassertion  of  the  national 
government  in  the  revolted  province. 

This  naturally  made  the  southern  border  Hue  of 
Louisiana,  the  Sabine,  an  object  of  attack,  and  as  Gen- 
eral-Taylor  had,  with  the  idea  of  being  left  in  peaceful 
retirement,  asked  to  be  in  command  in  Louisiana,  he 
unconsciously  placed  himself  in  the  very  position  that 
was  to  call  him  into  a  more  active  and  important  field 
of  duty  than  had  yet  been  entrusted  to  him. 

Mrs.  Taylor,  meantime,  painfully  unconscious  of 
the  drama  that  was  opening  before  her,  calmly,  and  full 
of  content,  went  about  her  domestic  duties.  A  garden 
was  planted,  and  she  cherished  the  first  signs  of  the 
growing  vegetation  with  almost  childish  delight.  Her 
old  friends  among  the  citizens  of  the  neighborhood 
made  friendly  visit?.  Miss  Betty,  who  was  now  in  the 
very  perfection  of  her  blooming  womanhood,  was  pop- 
ular with  the  young  ladies  of  her  age  and  station. 

The  *'  old  General  "  was  here  and  there,  according 
to  his  habits  ;  one  day  away  attending  to  some  military 
matter,  then  enjoying  what  seemed  to  him  an  endless 
source  of  interest,  the  examination  of  the  workings  of 
plantation  life.  He  began,  in  fact,  to  assume  the  airs 
of  an  agriculturist ;  invested  what  means  he  had  in  a 
cotton  form  on  the  Mississippi,  and  looked  forward  to 


476  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  time  when  his  income  w^ould  be  large  and  liberal 
for  the  pursuits  of  peace. 

All  this  time  to  the  south  of  General  Taylors  mil- 
itary department  there  were  signs  of  trouble,  and  one 
day  he  received  from  the  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Army  a  letter,  which  announced  that  there  was  great 
danger  of  a  hostile  incursion  of  Indians  on  the  south- 
era  border  of  his  department.  The  letter  thus  con- 
cluded :  "  Should  the  apprehended  hostilities  with 
the  Indians  alluded  to  break  out,  an  officer  of  rank — 
probably  yourself — will  be  sent  to  command  •  the 
United  States  forces  to  be  put  in  the  field." 

The  quiet  domestic  life  so  much  desired  by  Mrs. 
Taylor  was  becoming  a  dream.  The  events  which 
followed  so  rapidly  soon  placed  her  husband  on  the 
banks  of  the  Sabine  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
"  Army  of  Occupation."  A  succeeding  order,  and  he 
invaded  the  disputed  territory,  and  by  one  single 
strife  rose  from  the  comparative  obscurity  of  a  frontier 
fighter  to  be  the  observed  of  all  the  world,  in  a  con- 
flict where  two  Christian  nations  were  to  struggle  for 
supremacy  in  an  appeal  to  arms.  The  succeeding  ac- 
tions, that  began  at  Palo  Alto  and  ended  at  Buena 
Vista,  made  him  for  the  time  being,  a  hero.  "While 
these  events  were  culminating,  Mrs.  Taylor  and  Miss 
Betty  remained  in  the  little  cottage  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  each  hour  becoming  objects  of  greater  in- 
terest, and  from  their  quietness  and  unobtrusive  life 
making  themselves  dear  to  the  nation. 

But  the  applause  and  flattery  that  began  to  reach 
the  inmates  of  the  old  Spanish  cottage  made  no  appar- 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  477 

ent  impression.  Mrs.  Taylor,  while  her  husband  dis- 
tinguished himself  on  the  Rio  Grande,  only  worked 
harder  in  her  little  garden,  and  she  had  no  superior 
among  the  planters  of  the  vicinity  of  Baton  Rouge  in 
the  raising  of  succulent  luxuries  for  the  table,  and  she 
seemingly  took  more  pride  in  showing  these  triumphs 
of  her  industry  than  she  did  in  hearing  compliments 
upon  her  husband's  growing  fame.  Nay,  more  than 
this,  she  instituted  a  miniature  dairy,  and  added  to  her 
other  comforts  what  was  almost  unknown  at  the  time 
in  the  vicinity — an  abundance  of  fresh  milk  and  butter 
It  may  be  readily  imagined  that  with  such  care  and 
supervision  the  little  cottage  in  the  garrison  was 
illustrative  of  domestic  comfort  nowhere  else  sur- 
passed. Thus  practically  Mrs.  Taylor  taught  the 
young  wives  of  the  officers  residing  in  the  barracks 
their  duties,  and  prepared  them  by  her  excellent  ex- 
ample to  perform  the  arduous  task  imposed  upon  them 
as  soldiers'  wives  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to  insure 
their  own  happiness  and  secure  honor  and  renown  to 
their  patriotic  husbands. 

But  Mrs.  Taylor's  usefulness  did  not  end  with  the 
perfect  performance  of  her  household  responsibilities. 
The  tow7n  of  Baton  Roun;e  at  this  time  had  no  Protes- 
taut  Episcopal  Church.  It  was  a  want  which  she,  in 
common  with  other  officers'  wives  and  some  few  per- 
sons in  the  village,  felt  keenly;  and  in  her  quiet, 
practical  wray,  she  set  about  meeting  the  demand.  It 
was  of  course  only  necessary  for  her  to  designate  a 
proper  room  in  the  garrison  buildings  to  be  used  as  a 
chapel,  when  it  was  at  once  prepared  for  that  purpose. 


478  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

She  superintended  with  others  the  labor  necessary  to 
fit  up  a  chapel,  then  used  her  influence  to  secure  the 
occasional  services  of  a  rector  wrho  resided  at  some 
distance  away.  Meantime  her  expressed  wish*  that 
"  the  service  "  be  regularly  read  was  responded  to,  and 
thus  was  secured  to  Baton  Rou2;e  a  commencement  of 
a  religious  movement  that  in  a  few  subsequent  years 
crystallized  in  the  building  of  a  handsome  church,  and 
the  establishment  of  a  permanent  and  intelligent 
congregation. 

This  garrison  chapel  in  time  became  a  place  of 
great  interest.  Owing  to  active  hostilities  in  Mexico 
the  number  of  officers'  wives  increased,  and  it  included, 
as  may  be  supposed,  some  of  the  most  accomplished 
and  elegant  ladies  in  the  land.  Their  husbands,  gal- 
lant and  noble  soldiers,  were  involved  in  the  duties  of 
actual  war,  and  the}7,  brave-hearted  and  courageous, 
comforted  each  other.  As  the  news  came  that  actual 
collision  was  threatened,  some  of  these  ladies,  unable 
to  control  their  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  their  husbands, 
would  be  overcome  with  suppressed  emotion,  and  grow 
for  the  moment,  wild  with  terror.  It  was  on  these 
occasions  that  Mrs.  Taylor  and  Miss  Betty  maintained 
their  self-possession,  and  had  kind  words  and  hopeful 
suggestions  for  those  suffering  sisters.  And  when  at 
last  some  rumors  reached  Baton  Rouge  of  battles 
fought,  of  blood  being  shed,  of  men  and  officers  falling 
in  the  strife ;  when  those  heart-stricken  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  soldiers  engaged  were  left  to  the 
agony  of  apprehension,  Mrs.  Taylor  still  always  calm 
and  cheerful  was  a  constant  source  of  comfort,  and  shed 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  479 

around  her  an  atmosphere  of  hope,  an  inspiration  of 
true  courage.  At  last,  when  names  were  given  of 
those  who  fell  on  the  fields  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca 
de  la  Palma,  the  stricken  ones  of  the  garrison  suppressed 
their  wild  sorrow,  lest  they  should  wound  the  feelings 
of  their  superior  in  rank  and  influence,  and  in  the  little- 
chapel  founded  by  Mrs.  Taylor,  sought  through  the 
holy  influences  of  religion  that  consolation  that  could 
reconcile  them  to  the  irretrievable  loss  of  friends, 
brothers,  fathers,  and  husbands.  There  was,  at  this 
time  amid  these  scenes  of  actual  war,  a  bit  of  domes- 
tic history  revived  in  Mrs.  Taylor's  mind  that.no  doubt 
made  a  strong  impression. 

General  Taylor  was  a  great  admirer  of  business 
men,  and  was  opposed  to  his  daughters  marrying  offi- 
cers of  the  army.  He  condemned  his  own  life  by  say- 
ing that  soldiers  never  had  a  home,  and  in  this  senti- 
ment was  cordially  sustained  by  Mrs.  Taylor,  who  no 
doubt  in  her  heart  reviewed  her  varied  life  from  place 
to  place  on  the  frontiers,  and  her  constant  separations 
from  her  husband,  with  a  regret  she  could  not  conceal. 
It  was  this  cause  that  called  forth  so  much  opposition 
from  the  family  to  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis  marry- 
ing the  second  daughter,  Sarah,  which  opposition  re- 
sulted in  an  elopement  and  runaway  marriage.  Gene- 
ral Taylor  at  the  time  this  occurred  was  away  from 
home  on  military  service,  and  when  he  heard  of  it,  he 
expressed  himself  in  the  most  unmeasured  terms  of 
disapprobation.  He  seemed  utterly  insensible  to  the 
feelings  which  inspired  the  young  people  in  such  an 
adventure,  and  persisted  in  looking  upon  "  young  Da* 


4S0  LADILS    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

vis "    as  having  done  a  dishonorable  thing,   and  his 

daughter  as  being  entirely  regardless  of  her  filial  ob- 
ligations. To  all  protests  calculated  to  lessen  his  in- 
dignation, he  would  make  the  invariable  replies,  "  that 
no  honorable  man  would  thus  defy  the  wishes  of  pa- 
rents, and  no  truly  affectionate  daughter  be  so  re- 
gardless of  her  duty."  General  Taylor,  though  a  man 
of  strong  impulses,  and  possessed  of  but  little  training 
to  conceal  his  feelings,  except  what  military  discipline 
enforced,  was  at  heart  of  a  generous  and  forgiving  na- 
ture ;  and  no  doubt  time  would  have  brought  about  its 
softening  influences,  as  the  usual  ending  which  follows 
all  runaway  matches,  would  have  taken  place, — recon- 
ciliation and  entire  forgiveness.  But  ere  this  occurred, 
within  a  few  short  months  of  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Da- 
vis suddenly  died,  and  a  beloved  child  upon  whom  he 
had  garnered  all  his  affections,  passed  forever  away, 
the  last  words  she  had  from  him  being  those  of  re- 
proof and  condemnation.  This  incident  and  the  sud- 
den death  of  his  daughter  left  a  deep  impression  upon 
Mrs.  Taylor's  life.  Naturally  of  a  quiet  disposition  and 
living  from  necessity  almost  entirely  away  from  influ- 
ences of  society,  this  sad  domestic  history  was  left  to 
make  the  greatest  possible  impression  upon  her  mind. 
That  General  Taylor  keenly  cherished  for  long  years 
his  sense  of  sorrow  was  destined  to  be  most  romantic- 
ally displayed.  His  call  for  volunteer  troops  at  the  time 
he  believed  his  little  army  was  imperilled,  on  the  evo 
of  its  memorable  march  from  Corpus  Christi  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  was  answered  promptly  by  Louisiana  and 
Mississippi.     The  last  named  State  promptly  organized 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  481 

a  s]3lendid  regiment,  composed  of  the  very  elite  of  the 
native  young  men,  and  Jefferson  Davis  was  elected  its 
commander. 

At  Monterey,  the  1st  Mississippi  regiment  was  sta- 
tioned at  one  of  the  forts  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
and  in  the  battle  that  ended  with  the  defeat  of  Am- 
pudia,  its  Mexican  defender,  Jefferson  Davis  received 
a  slight  wound.  Before  this  event,  at  the  time  and 
subsequently,  it  was  noticed  that  Colonel  Davis  and 
General  Taylor  "had  never  met,  and  it  was  evident  that 
this  was  designed,  and  not  the  result  of  accident — there 
was  an  understanding  seemingly  that  kept  them  apart 
The  cause  of  this  was  freely  discussed,  and  it  came  to 
the  surface  that  a  reconciliation  had  never  taken  place 
between  General  Taylor  and  Colonel  Davis  on  account 
of  the  elopement,  and  so  things  remained  until  the 
close  of  the  three  days'  struggle  that  ended  in  triumph 
at  Buena  Vista.  It  was  on  the  occasion  when  victory 
seemed  hesitating  where  she  shouid  bestow  her  wreath 
— when  the  men  of  the  North  and  the  West  had  ex- 
hausted their  energies — when  Clay,  Crittenden,  Yell, 
and  their  brave  compatriots  slept  in  death  on  the 
bloody  field — at  this  moment,  when  Santa  Anna  be- 
lieved and  announced  himself  the  hero  of  the  field, 
and  when  he  concentrated  his  favorite  troops  to  make 
a  last  charge  upon  our  dispirited  and  exhausted  col- 
umns, that  Colonel  Davis,  at  the  head  of  his  Mississippi 
regiment  nobly  sustained  the  shock,  and  sent  the  foe 
back  disappointed  and  dismayed.  Then  it  was  that 
"  Old  Zach,"  seeing  that  he  had  saved  himself,  his  gal- 
lant men,  and  his  country's  honor,  that  his  heart  had 
31 


432  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

no  place  but  for  gratitude,  and  the  long  estranged  em- 
braced each  other  and  wept  tears  of  reconciliation  upon 
the  battle-field. 

Time  passed  on,  and  General  Taylor  completed  his 
brilliant  campaign.  Our  country  had  then,  for  nearly 
two  generations  been  unused  to  war,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent achievements  of  "  old  Rough  and  Heady,1'  filled  the 
hearts  of  the  people  with  the  intensest  admiration. 
The  old  cottage  on  the  low  bluff  at  Baton  Rouge, 
gradually  became  of  classic  interest.  Grateful  people 
traveling  along  the  highway  of  the  great  Mississippi,  rep- 
resenting every  State  in  the  Union,  and  every  civilized 
nation  of  the  earth,  would  admiringly  point  out  General 
Taylor's  residence.  If  any  of  those  great  western 
floating  palaces  stopped  at  Baton  Rouge,  some  of  the 
passengers  would  climb  up  the  hill  and  visit  the  "gar- 
rison grounds,"  and  the  young  ladies  especially  would 
make  the  pilgrimage  in  hopes  they  might  see  Miss 
Betty,  whom  they  with  woman's  quickness  of  percep- 
tion, felt  was  to  be  the  first  lady  of  the  land,  by  pre- 
siding at  the  White  House. 

How  much  the  neatness  of  that  home,  its  character- 
istic simplicity,  its  quiet  domestic  comforts,  the  self- 
possession  and  unpretending,  yet  lady-like  manners  of 
its  inmates,  impressed  themselves  on  the  public,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  that  popular  affection  that  greet- 
ed General  Taylor  on  his  return  from  Mexico,  and  cul- 
minated in  his  triumphant  election  to  the  Presidency, 
is  difficult  to  decide ;  but  that  it  had  an  element  of 
strength  and  of  vast  importance  is  certain,  and  pre- 
sents  in  a  strong  view  how  much  can  be  done  by  the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  483 

devoted,  sensible  wife,  in  aiding  lier  husband  in  achiev- 
ing success. 

Meantime,  General  Taylor  returned  the  triumphant 
soldier  to  the  United  States.  However  wonderful 
were  the  subsequent  victories  achieved  over  the  Mexi 
cans,  in  the  brilliant  march  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City 
of  Aztecs,  the  novelty  of  the  war  when  this  was  enact 
ed,  was  gone.  The  first  impressions  remained  vivid 
the  subsequent  ones  were  received  with  gratification, 
but  not  enthusiasm.  General  Taylor  returned,  not 
only  a  military  hero,  but  over  his  head  was  suspended 
the  wreath  of  an  approaching  civic  triumph  ;  and  the 
little  cottage  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  that  Mre. 
Taylor  selected  for  her  strictly  private  residence,  be- 
came a  Mecca  for  pilgrims  from  all  lands,  and  for  more 
than  a  year  was  the  centre  of  interest,  where  patriot- 
ism, intellect,  and  beauty  paid  homage.  In  recalling 
the  impressions  made  upon  the  public  through  the 
press,  it  is  well  remarked  what  a  full  share  of  compli- 
ments were  paid  to  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  how  grateful  was 
the  task  of  every  one  to  praise  Miss  Betty  for  her 
agreeable  manners,  her  hospitality,  and  her  resemblance 
to  her  father  in  matters  of  good  sense,  and  the  further 
possession  of  all  accomplishments  that  adorn  her  sex. 
But  this  flow  of  visitors,  this  public  ovation,  this  con- 
stant bustle  about  Mrs.  Taylor  was  submitted  to  and 
borne,  but  never  received  her  endorsement  and  sym- 
pathy. Her  heart  was  in  the  possible  enjoyment  of  a 
quiet  household.  She  saw  nothing  attractive  in  the 
surroundings  of  the  White  House.  All  this  "  worldly 
glory  "  defeated  her  womanly  ambition,  aud  her  life* 


4S4  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

lonsr  dream  that,  at  some  time  or  another,  "  the  Geo- 
eral"  would  be  relieved  of  his  public  duties,  and  that 
together  in  the  retirement  of  their  own  estate,  uuno- 
ticed  and  unknown  except  to  their  friends,  they  might 
together  peacefully  end  their  days ;  and  that  the  rea- 
lization of  her  modest  ambition  was  due  to  her,  for  the 
separations  and  wanderings  that  had  characterized  all 
her  early  married  life. 

General  Taylor  was  by  habit  a  public  servant,  and 
his  future,  as  shaped  by  circumstances,  he  quietly  ac- 
cepted. But  Mrs.  Taylor  opposed  his  being  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency.  She  spoke  of  it  as  a  thing  to 
be  lamented,  and  declared  when  such  a  position  was 
first  foreshadowed,  that  the  General's  acquired  habits 
would  not  permit  him  to  live  under  the  constraints  of 
metropolitan  life ;  and  to  those  of  her  intimate  friends 
who  spoke  of  his  being  President,  she  sadly  replied, 
u  That  it  was  a  plot  to  deprive  her  of  his  society,  and 
shorten  his  life  by  unnecessary  care  and  responsibility.'" 
With  the  announcement  that  General  Taylor  was 
President  elect,  came  his  resignation  as  an  officer  of  the 
army.  It  was  after  all  a  sad  day  for  him  and  his  fam- 
ilv,  when  he  severed  a  connection  that  had  lasted  so 
long,  and  had  been  made  so  memorable  by  a  life  of 
conscientious  duty.  Miss  Betty  now  appeared  on  the 
scene  as  an  agent  of  National  interest.  The  "White 
House  under  Mrs.  Polk  had  been  grave  and  formal. 
There  was  a  cold  respectability  and  correctness  about 
it,  that  was  somewhat  oppressive  to  the  citizens  of 
Washington ;  and  there  wa3  a  degree  of  earnest  pleas- 
ure created  in  the  public  mind  when  it  was  understood 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  4S5 

that  as  a  consequent  of  General  Taylor's  election,  there 
would  preside  over  the  White  House  a  lady  eminently 
attractive  in  her  personal  appearance,  young  in  years, 
accomplished  in  mind,  and  made  more  interesting,  if 
possible,  by  being  the  bride  of  Major  Bliss,  who  had 
served  so  faithfully  under  her  father  as  his  accom- 
plished Adjutant-General. 

Elizabeth  Taylor,  third  and  youngest  daughter  of 
President  Taylor,  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when, 
as  Mrs.  Bliss,  she  assumed  the  formal  duties  of  the 
Lady  of  the  White  House,  her  mother,  from  disinclina- 
tion, refusing  to  accept  the  responsibility  of  official  re- 
ceptions. Mrs.  Bliss,  or  Miss  Betty,  as-  she  was  popu- 
larly called,  was  at  this  time  admired  by  all  who  saw 
her,  and  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  youngest 
daughter  of  any  chief  magistrate  who  had  honored  our 
Presidential  receptions  with  her  presence.  Her  face 
was  pleasant,  her  smiles  exceedingly  attractive,  and  her 
eyes  beamed  with  intelligence.  She  had  been  through- 
out her  life  but  little  with  her  parents.  While  not 
among  her  relations  in  Virginia  or  Kentucky,  she  was 
at  some  boarding  school.  Her  education  was  complet- 
ed at  Philadelphia,  after  which  she  resided  with  her 
parents.  No  inauguration  of  any  of  the  later  Presi- 
dents was  more  enthusiastically  celebrated  than  Gen- 
eral Taylor's.  He  was  at  the  time  the  nation's  idol. 
Everything  in  his  history  charmed  the  popular  mind, 
and  the  fact  that  he  was  a  total  stranger  to  Washing, 
ton — that  his  family  were  unknown,  gave  a  mystery 
and  novelty  to  the  whole  proceeding  quite  different  to 
common-place  precedence. 


4S6  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

For  this  reason,  more  than  ordinary  encouragement 
was  oiven  to  the  celebration  of  the  occasion  by  a 
grand  ball.  A  wooden  building  of  enormous  size  was 
erected,  which  at  the  time  was  considered  an  "  immense 
affair."  It  was  tastefully  decorated  with  flags  and 
other  proper  insignia ;  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour, 
many  articles  were  loaned  for  its  decorations  by  citi- 
zens, who  ordinarily  took  no  interest  in  these  "stated 
occasions."  The  best  music  that  could  be  obtained 
was  in  attendance,  and  to  give  the  crowning  zest,  "  Miss 
Betty"  was  to  be  present.  The  Lady  of  the  White 
House  for  the  next  four  years,  young,  handsome,  and 
hopeful,  was  to  be  presented  to  the  admiring  public. 

There  was  the  usual  crowd  and  the  characteristic 
confusion  ;  but  nevertheless  there  pervaded  the  multi- 
tude an  intense  desire  to  behold  the  new  occupant  of 
the  White  House.  There  was  a  "  Hero  President." 
There  was  a  charming  young  bride,  a  young  and  grace- 
ful lady  to  do  the  honors  of  the  public  receptions. 
"  At  eleven  o'clock,  General  Tavlor  entered,  leaning  on 
the  arms  of  Major  Seaton  and  Speaker  Winthrop." 
His  fine  eye  was  bright,  his  step  was  elastic,  he  was 
brave,  he  was  a  conqueror,  he  was  President,  and  the 
gentlemen  expressed  their  feelings  in  spontaneous 
cheers,  while  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs  and 
many  wept  for  sympathy.  A  silence  ensued,  a  move- 
ment at  the  head  of  the  room  indicated  a  new  scene 
was  to  be  enacted.  The  throng  pressed  back,  and  Mrs. 
Bodisco,  then  the  young  and  handsome  wife  of  the 
Russian  Minister,  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  crimson 
satin  and  glistening  with  diamonds,  supported  by  two 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  487 

ambassadors  emblazoned  in  gold  lace  and  orders,  came 
forward, — just  behind  were  two  "  Louisiana  beauties/ 
a  blonde  and  a  brunette,  whose  brilliant  charms  subse- 
quently divided  the  gentlemen  in  perplexity  as  to- 
which  should  be  acceded  the  palm  of  the  belle  of 
the  evening.  "  Which  is  Miss  Betty?11  whispered  the 
throng  as  these  queenly  creatures,  by  their  native 
charms,  without  the  aid  of  dress,  eclipsed  the  more 
jrlowino"  splendor  of  the  Russian  court.     Then  behind 

o  o      J. 

these  came  "  Miss  Betty,1'  plainly  dressed  in  white,  a 
simple  flower  in  her  hair,  timid  and  faltering,  yet  with 
an  expression  in  her  eye  that  showed  she  was  Zachary 
Taylor's  favorite  child.  The  expectations  of  the  vast 
crowd  were  for  the  moment  realized,  and  then  follow- 
ed expressions  of  enthusiasm  that  were  overwhelming. 
The  reaction  that  followed  the  inauguration  in 
Washington  was,  as  usual,  intense.  The  season  was 
more  than  usually  warm,  and  the  Congress  fled  from 
the  Capital.  Mrs.  Taylor  was  never  visible  in  the  re- 
ception-room ;  she  received  her  visitors  in  her  private 
apartments,  and  escaped  all  observation  from  choice. 
Once  established  in  her  new  home,  she  selected  such 
rooms  as  suited  her  ideas  of  housekeeping, "and,  as  far 
as  was  possible,  resumed  the  routine  that  characterized 
her  life  at  •  Baton  Rouge.  As  was  her  merit,  she  at- 
tended personally  to  so  much  of  it  as  affected  the  per- 
sonal comforts  of  the  General,  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore the  ''opposition"  found  fault  with  her  simple 
habits,  and  attempted,  but  without  effect,  to  lessen  the 
public  esteem  felt  for  General  Taylor,  by  indulging  in 
offensive  personalities. 


488  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    nOUSE. 

General  Taylor  was,  from  principle  and  choice,  an 
abstemious  man.  On  the  sixth  of  July,  the  dullness 
of  Washington  was  enlivened  by  the  piesence  of 
Father  Mathew,  the  Apostle  of  Temperance.  To 
know  him,  General  Taylor  invited  him  to  the  White 
House.  The  press  discussed  this  honorable  notice  of 
the  great  philanthropist,  and  spoke  of  "Miss  Betty" 
as  presiding  at  the  reception  with  unusual  grace  and 
affability. 

The  winter  following  opened  officially  and  fashion- 
ably with  the  commencement  of  Congress.  There  was 
then  in  the  Senate,  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  Benton, 
Cass,  and  lesser  but  still  shining  lights.  Mr.  Fillmore 
presided  over  the  body  with  dignity,  and  such  an  ar- 
ray of  talent  and  statesmanship  divided  the  public 
mind  with  the  claims  of  the  White  House. 

Few  official  receptions  were  given.  The  excitement 
attending  the  admission  of  California — the  fiery  elo- 
quence of  Mr.  Clay — the  attack  of  Mr.  Calhoun  or 
Mr.  Benton,  and  the  growls  of  disappointed  office- 
seekers,  divided  the  current  that  might  have  otherwise 
flowed  on  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  it  is  apparent 
that  this  created  no  regrets  in  the  minds  of  the  ladies 
of  the  "  WThite  House."  It  was  soon  understood  that 
set,  formal,  and  official  dinners  were  not  coveted,  and 
they  were  not  encouraged.  But  social  and  unceremo- 
nious visits  prevailed  beyond  any  precedent,  and  Miss 
Betty  was  always  ready  to  dispense  the  honors  of  her 
exalted  position,  with  a  grace  and  frankness  that  was 
constantly  securing  for  her  a  wide  circle  of  admiring 
friends.  Thus  the  first  winter  of  General  Taylors 
term  passed  away. 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  489 

To  those  who  were  familiar  with  the  actual  life  of 
the  White  House,  it  was  apparent  that  a  change  had 
gradually  taken  place  in  the  feelings  of  the  female  in- 
mates. Mrs.  Taylor  had  gradually  abandoned  much 
of  her  personal  superintendence  of  domestic  matters, 
and  Miss  Betty  had  assumed  the  manner  of  one  who 
began  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  her  social  eleva- 
tion. The  embarrassments  that  General  Taylor  suf- 
fered from  the  betrayal  of  "false  friends"  had  the 
double  effect,  to  make  the  members  of  his  family  more 
devoted  to  each  other,  and  at  the  same  time  created  a  re- 
solve to  more  ostentatiously  perform  the  duties  of  their 
high  social  position.  A  revolution,  political  and  social, 
had  been  resolved  upon  without  the  parties  interested 
beins;  aware  of  the  change.  This  new  era  was  inauo;u- 
rated  by  the  ladies  of  the  President's  House  having  a 
reception  on  the  4th  of  March,  1860,  in  honor  of  the 
inauguration.  The  affair  was  of  singular  brilliancy. 
It  was  remarked  at  the  time  that  the  ladies  never  ap- 
peared to  better  advantage ;  the  rustling  of  costly 
dresses,  and  the  display  of  diamonds  were  paramount, 
while  the  gentlemen,  for  the  time  being,  eschewing  the 
license  of  Eepublican  institutions,  accepted  the  laws 
of  good  society,  and  appeared  in  dress  coats  and  white 
kid  gloves.  General  Taylor  surprised  his  friends  by 
the  courtliness  and  dignity  of  his  manner.  Some  of 
his  soldiers  who  saw  him  in  his  battles  said  there  was 
mischief  in  his  eye.  He  was  evidently  attempting  a 
new  role,  and  doing  it  with  success. 

Miss  Betty,  as  hostess,  was  entirely  at  her  ease,  and 
made  the  ladies  by  her  affability  feel  at  home  in  the 


490  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

National  Mansion.  For  the  first  time,  at  the  public 
receptions,  she  led  off  in  conversation,  and  her  re- 
marks were  full  of  quiet  humor  and  good  sense.  The 
following  day,  the  papers  expressed  their  admiration 
in  different  ways.  "Miss  Betty"  was  complimented 
with  the  remark  that,  in  manner  and  grace  at  a  public 
reception,  Victoria  could  not  surpass  her.  General 
Taylor,  it  was  said,  "  had  at  last  determined  to  open 
the  campaign  for  the  second  term,  and  those  about 
him,  who  were  intriguing  for  the  succession  for  others 
than  for  himself,  would  have  to  stand  aside.'1  These 
suspicions  were  justified  by  constantly  repeated  rumors 
that  Cabinet  changes  would  be  made  that  would  en- 
tirely  change  the  character  of  the  general  Administra- 
tion. Mr.  Webster  began  now  to  visit  the  White 
House,  and  was  treated  with  marked  consideration  by 
its  female  inmates.  The  influence  of  the  ladies  of  the 
White  House  began  to  be  felt  in  political  circles,  and 
what  had  been  for  the  preceding  year  a  negative,  now 
became  a  positive  power.  Gentlemen  who  had  dis- 
tinguished themselves  for  the  early  advocacy  of  Gem 
era!  Taylor's  election,  but  who  had  received  no  recog- 
nition, were  now  welcomed  to  the  White  House.  It 
was  evident  that  a  radical  change  had  come  over  its 
inmates.  General  Taylor  seemed  at  last  to  begin  to 
understand  his  duties,  and  knowing  them,  he  com- 
menced their  performance  with  the  same  zeal  and 
determination  that  marked  his  military  career.  Four 
months  of  spring  and  summer  passed  away.  The 
seventy-fourth  anniversary  of  our  national  Fourth  of 
July  was  approaching.     It  was  decided  that  the  event 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  49] 

should  be  celebrated  by  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone 
of  the  Washington  Monument.  General  Taylor  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  to  be  present  without  hesitation, 
and  surprised  his  friends  at  the  pleasure  he  evinced 
at  the  opportunity. 

The  day  was  unusually  warm  and  oppressive  for 
Washington  City.     The  procession  out  to  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac  moved  slowly,   and    General   Taylor 
suffered  with  the  intense  heat.     Upon  taking  his  seat 
upon  the  stand,  he  remarked  that  he  had  never  before 
experienced  such  unpleasant  sensations  from  the  sun, 
much  as   he  had   borne  its   unshielded  rays   in    the 
swamps  of  Florida  and  Mexico.     General  Foote  was 
the  official  orator,  and  Washington  Parke  Custis  took 
part  in  the  proceedings.     It  was  noticed   that  Gen. 
Foote  addressed  many  of  his  most  pointed  remarks  in 
praise  of  Washington  to  General  Taylor.     The  papers 
of  the  day  said  that  "  when  the  orator  quoted  from  a 
letter  of  Hamilton  to  Washington,  protesting  against 
his  refusing  to  serve  a  second  term,  President  Taylor, 
who  sat  on  the  left  of  the  orator,  roused  from  his  list- 
less attitude,  as  if  desirous  of  catching  every  word." 
"Perhaps,"  added  a  reporter,    "General  Taylor  was 
thiuking   what   would   be   his    conduct  in  a  similar 
emergency." 

From  the  celebration  the  President  returned  to  the 
WLite  House,  and  to  relieve  himself  from  the  terrible 
thirst  the  heat  had  occasioned,  in  accordance  with  hi9 
primitive  tastes,  he  partook  freely  of  cold  water  and 
fruit.  Iu  less  than  an  hour  he  was  seized  with  symp- 
toms of  a  fearful  sickness.     The  announcement  that 


492  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  Presi dect  was  prostrated  by  indisposition,  struck 
the  people  of  Washington  with  prophetic  terror,  for 
the  news  went  from  house  to  house,  as  if  presaging 
the  fatal  result.  General  Taylor,  after  the  first  parox- 
ysms were  over,  seemed  to  anticipate  that  he  would 
never  recover.  He  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  his 
1  livsicians,  and  the  efforts  of  his  afflicted  family  to 
assist  him.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  of  his 
sufferings,  he  said : 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  this  were  to  termi- 
nate in  death.  I  did  not  expect  to  encounter  what  has 
beset  me  since  my  elevation  to  the  Presidency.  God 
knows,  I  have  endeavored  to  fulfil  what  I  considered  to 
be  an  honest  duty ;  but  I  have  been  mistaken,  my  mo- 
tives have  been  misconstrued,  and  my  feelings  grossly 
betrayed."' 

Mrs.  Taylor,  who  heard  these  remarks,  for  the  first 
time  admitted  to  herself  the  possibility  of  her  hus- 
band's death.  She  then  recalled,  in  the  bitterness  of 
her  soul,  the  remark  she  made  when  it  was  announced  to 
her  that  possibly  General  Taylor  would  be  President : 

"  It  was  a  plot  to  deprive  her  of  his  society  and 
shorten  his  life  by  unnecessary  care  and  responsibility." 
This  was  indeed  about  to  happen,  and  in  the  agony  of 
that  hour  she  prostrated  herself  at  her  husband's  bed- 
Bide,  while  her  children  clung  around  her. 

The  sun,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  July,  1850, 
rose  cloriouslv  over  the  AVhite  House.  The  Presi- 
denfs  family  and  Colonel  Bliss  had  remained  by  his 
bedside  all  night,  refusing  the  indulgence  of  necessary 
repose.     Each  hour  it  was  evident  that  the  catastrophe 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  493 

was  nearer.  Mrs.  Taylor  would  not  believe  that  death 
was  possible.  He  had  escaped  so  many  dangers,  had 
been  through  so  much  exposure,  he  could  not  die  sur- 
rounded with  so  mauy  comforts  and  loved  so  intensely 
by  his  family  and  friends.  The  emotions  of  apprehen- 
sions were  so  oppressive,  that  opposed  nature  with 
Mrs.  Taylor  found  relief  in  fits  of  insensibility. 

At  thirty-five  minutes  past  ten,  p.  m.,  the  President 
called  his  family  about  him,  to  give  them  his  last 
earthly  advice  and  bid  them  his  last  good-by.  No 
conventional  education  could  restrain  the  naturally  ex- 
pressive grief  of  the  members  of  this  afflicted  household, 
and  their  heart-rending  cries  of  agony  reached  the  sur- 
rounding street.  "  I  am  about  to  die,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent, firmly,  "  I  expect  the  summons  soon.  I  have  en- 
deavored to  discharge  all  ray  official  duties  faithfully. 
I  regret  nothing,  but  that  I  am  about  to  leave  my 
friends." 

Mrs.  Taylor  and  family  occupied  the  White  House 
until  the  sad  ceremonies  of  the  funeral  ended  with  the 
removal  of  the  late  President's  remains.  The  bustle 
and  the  pomp  was  now  painful  to  her  sight  and  ears, 
and  she  realized,  in  the  fearful  interval  of  time,  how 
truly  he  was  dead,  who,  though  the  nation's  successful 
General  and  a  President,  was  to  her  only  a  cherished 
husband.  It  can  easily  be  imagined  that,  as  the  glit- 
tering, heartless  display  of  the  Executive  Mansion  com- 
menced fading  away  from  her  sight,  that  she  must  have 
tegretf ully  turned  to  the  peaceful  era  of  her  last  home 
at  Baton  Rouge,  and  the  unpretentious  cottage,  the 
neglected  garden;  and  the  simple  life  connected  with 


494  LADILS    OF    THE    WniTE    HOUSE. 

these  association?,  must  have  appeared  as  a  dream  of 
happiness  when  contrasted  with  the  fearful  year  and  a 
half  of  sad  experiences  in  Washington.  From  the  time 
Mrs.  Taylor  left  the  White  House,  she  never  alluded 
to  her  residence  there,  except  as  connected  with  the 
death  of  her  husband. 

Accompanied  by  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Bliss,  after 
leaving  Washington,  she  first  sought  a  home  anions  her 
relations  in  Kentucky,  but  finding  it  oppressive  by  per- 
sonal utterances  of  sympathy,  she  retired  to  the  residence 
of  her  only  son,  near  Pascagoula,  Louisiana,  where,  in 
August,  1852,  she  died,  possessed  of  the  same  Christian 
spirit  that  marked  her  conduct  throughout  her  life.  The 
sudden  and  lamented  death  of  Major  Bliss  soon  fol- 
lowed, and  without  children  by  her  marriage  "  Miss 
Betty  Taylor,1'  as  she  must  ever  be  known  in  history, 
studiously  sought  the  retirement  of  private  life,  and 
found  it  in  the  accomplished  circles  of  the  ';  old  fami- 
lies of  Virginia,"  with  whom  she  was  by  ties  of  blood 
so  numerously  connected.  By  a  second  marriage,  her 
historical  name  passed  away.  But  when  the  traditions 
and  histories  of  the  White  House  have  the  romance 
of  time  thrown  around  them,  Miss  Betty  Taylor  will 
be  recalled  to  mind,  and  for  her  will  there  be  a  sym- 
pathy that  is  associated  with  youth,  for  she  was  the 
youngest  of  the  few  women  of  America  who  have  a 
right  to  the  title  of  "  Lady  of  the  White  House." 


LADIE3    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  495 


MRS.  MILLARD  FILLMORE. 

Abigail  Power?,  the  youngest  child  of  Lemuel 
Powers,  a  prominent  Baptist  clergyman  of  that  day, 
was  born  in  Stillwater,  Saratoga  County,  Xew  York, 
March,  1798. 

Dr.  Powers  was  of  Massachusetts  descent,  "being 
one  of  the  nine  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-four 
descendants  of  Henry  Leland,  of  Sherburne,  and  a 
cousin  and  life-lonsc  friend  of  the  eccentric  and  tab 
ented  John  Leland.  Though  not  a  wealthy  man,  he 
yet  possessed  a  competence,  and  his  profession  was  the 
most  honored  and  respected  of  all  pursuits. 

Only  a  short  decade  from  the  martyr  memories  of 
New  England,  and  not  entirely  removed  from  the  in- 
fluences of  that  severely  religious  section,  he  was  yet 
without  the  sternness  and  rigor  usual  to  individuals 
holding  his  high  office. 

He  died  while  yet  his  daughter  was  in  her  infancy, 
leaving  to  the  care  of  a  watchful  mother  her  education 
and  training. 

Soon  afterward.  Mrs.  Powers,  finding  that  her  in- 
come would  not  justify  her  in  liberality  of  expendi- 
ture, determined  to  remove  with  her  brother  and  sev- 
eral families  of  relations  and  friends  to  a  frontier 
settlement,  and  thus,  at  the  early  age  of  ten,  we  find 
our  little  heroine  established  in  her  new  home  in 
Cayuga  County.    .Here  began  the  stern  lessons  which 


496  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ultimately  educated  the  pioneer  child,  and  from  this 
point  may  be  dated  the  foundation  of  her  noble  char- 
acter, made  strong  through  discipline  and  spiritualized 
through  sorrow.  She  was  studious  and  ambitious,  and 
with  her  mother's  assistance,  rapidly  progressed  in 
knowledge ;  her  improvement  must  have  been  very 
rapid,  for  at  an  early  age  she  assumed  the  duties  of  a 
teacher,  and  for  many  years  continued  her  chosen  avo- 
cation. Her  mother,  after  the  settlement  of  her  fath- 
er's estate,  being  greatly  reduced  in  outward  circum- 
stances, was  compelled  to  use  the  most  undeviating 
industry  and  economy ;  and  she,  feeling  the  necessity  of 
relieving  her  of  the  burden  of  her  education,  began  to 
teach,  during  the  summer  months,  to  pay  her  winters 
tuition.  Thus,  alternating  between  teaching  and  stu- 
dying, between  imparting  and  receiving  instruction. 
she  became  a  thorough  scholar  and  remarkable  woman. 
There  are  circumstances  of  poverty  which  throw  an 
interest  around  those  involved  in  them  far  greater  than 
the  noblest  gifts  of  prosperous  fortune  coulcl  confer. 
The  sight  of  a  yonng  asDirins:  woman  actuated  by  the 
loftiest,  purest  desire  implanted  by  nature,  overcoming 
obstacles,  lau^hins:  to  the  winds  the  remonstrances  of 
weak  and  timid  natures,  and  mounting,  by  patient  toil 
and  unceasing  labor,  the  rugged  hill  of  wisdom, — is 
calculated  to  dignify  humanity  and  render  homage  to 
God. 

Man  may  at  once  determine  his  calling  and  assert 
hie  place — woman  has  hers  to  seek,  and  however  reso- 
lute she  may  appear,  with  all  the  dignity  she  may  as- 
sume, there  are   hours  of   fearful  ^despondency,    and 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  497 

moments  when,  in  the  crowded  avenues  of  trade,  the 
craving  for  solitude  and  aloneness  absorb  the  energies 
of  her  nature,  and  still  the  voice  of  ambition.  Yet  the 
example  of  this  young  life  is  proof  that  woman's  de- 
pendence is  more  the  result  of  custom,  than  the  fiat  of 
nature,  and  the  record  of  her  trials  and  final  success  is 
a  testimonial  of  virtue's  reward,  and  energy's  omni- 
potence. 

Varied  as  were  the  experiences  of  Miss  Powers'  life, 
they  only  served  to  develop  all  the  latent  strength  of 
her  body  as  well  as  mind;  her  singular  embodiment  of 
the  physical  was  not  less  remarkable  than  the  depth 
and  research  of  the  intellectual. 

Commanding  in  person,  for  she  was  five  feet  six 
inches  in  height,  of  exceeding  fairness  of  complexion 
and  delicacy  of  features,  hers  was  a  harmonious  blend* 
ing  of  beauty  and  strength.  But  she  did  not  possess 
that  mere  superficial  beauty  wdiich  cannot  retain  if  it 
awakens  admiration.  Hers  was  no  statue-like  perfec- 
tion of  figure,  nor  classically  symmetrical  face.  Gen- 
uine kindliness  of  heart  beamed  through  her  light,  ex- 
pressive eyes,  and  her  brow  was  the  throne  of  pure  and 
lofty  inspirations.  Perhaps,  if  any  one  of  her  features 
was  more  universally  admired  than  the  others,  it  was 
her  light  luxuriant  hair,  which  fell  in  flowing  curls 
round  her  finely-shaped  head. 

Thus  particular  in  describing  her  personal  appear- 
ance, a  circumstance  never  to  be  omitted  in  sketches 
of  women,  I  but  recognize  this  fact — that  the  face  is 
the  manuscript  of  the  soul,  and  that  the  law  of  uner- 
ring nature  is,  the  exterior  is  symbolical  of  the  inner 
being. 

32 


498  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

In  the  backwoods  of  New  York  State,  where  the 
borders  of  the  adjoining  county  were  the  limits  of  civil- 
ization, accustomed  only  to  the  society  of  the  village 
people,  Miss  Powers  passed  the  first  twenty-eight  years 
of  her  apparently  uneventful  life,  but  in  reality,  the  in- 
tensity of  her  moral  and  affectional  nature  gave  breadth 
and  depth  to  her  every-day  existence,  and  in  the 
quiet  recesses  of  her  heart  she  lived  life  over  more  than 
once. 

Her  occupation  as  a  teacher  was  continued  after 
her  mother's  second  marriage,  which  occurred  about 
this  time,  and  henceforth  her  home  was  in  the  family 
of  a  much  loved  relation.  It  was  while  in  this  home 
that  she  first  met  Mr.  Fillmore,  then  a  clothier's  ap- 
prentice, and  during  the  winter  months  a  teacher  in 
the  village  school. 

His  father's  unwise  choice  of  a  profession  for  his 
son  but  added  to  his  all-ab  sorbin^  desire  to  become  a 
lawyer.  But  he  was  not  yet  twenty,  his  time  was  his 
parents',  and  his  poverty  compelled  him  to  serve  out 
his  apprenticeship,  and,  even  after  he  had  commenced 
the  study  of  law,  to  desire  to  return  to  his  trade. 

The  assistance  of  a  gentleman  who  became  much 
interested  in  the  ambitious  youth,  enabled  him  to  buy 
his  time  and  devote  himself  to  study.  Thus  he  over- 
came the  adverse  circumstances  which  denied  him  free- 
dom of  action,  and  attained  for  himself  leisure  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  future  usefulness. 

His  subsequent  removal  to  Erie  County  deprived 
him  of  the  society  of  Miss  Powers — his  now  promised 
wife,  and  so  limited  were  his  means,  that  for  three 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  499 

years  he  was  unable  to  travel  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  to  see  her. 

In  February,  1826,  they  were  married,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  brother,  Judge  Powers,  in  Moravia.  Erie 
County  was  as  much  a  wilderness  to  the  young  wife, 
as  Cayuga  had  been  years  before,  but  the  obstacles  to 
be  overcome  were  not  considered  by  the  affectionate 
couple,  and  they  started  out  in  their  married  life  buoy- 
ed by  a  confidence  in  their  own  strength,  and  a  reli- 
ance on  a  higher  power. 

Into  the  small  house  built  by  the  husband's  hands, 
the  wife  carried  all  the  ambition  and  activity  of  other 
days,  and  at  once  resumed  her  avocation  as  a  teacher, 
whilst  performing  the  duties  of  maid-of-all-work,  house- 
keeper, and  hostess. 

Mr.  Fillmore  was  thus  enabled  to  practise  his  pro- 
fession, relieved  of  all  care  and  responsibility  by  his 
thoughtful  wife,  and  so  rapid  was  his  progress  that  in 
less  than  two  years  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature. 

Mrs.  Fillmore  rendered  her  husband  most  efficient 
help  in  his  struggle  for  eminence,  and  was  the  wings 
by  which  he  soared  so  high.  Instead  of  clogging  his 
footsteps  by  her  helplessness,  she,  with  her  intellectual 
strength,  relieved  and  sustained  his  every  effort.  So 
enthusiastic  and  unchanging  was  her  attachment  to 
him,  that  no  duty  was  burdensome,  no  privation  suffi- 
cient to  cloud  her  brow.  The  struggles,  those  first 
years,  with  poverty  and  increasing  cares  were  fearful, 
but  her  dignity  never  forsook  her — her  chosen  path 
never  became  distasteful.     Many  are  noble  from  choi^ 


500  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

slip  was  so  from  necessity.  The  greatness  of  soul,  and 
devotion  to  principle  inherent  in  her  nature,  left  nc 
other  course. 

A  letter  written  in  her  neat  style,  now  old  and 
worn,  has  been  placed  in  my  hands  by  a  member  of 
that  happy  household  in  which  she  resided  so  long. 
It  -was  addressed  to  one  of  the  sisters,  now  dead,  and 
cherished  by  auother  for  the  reminiscences  it  recalls 
of  the  beautiful  attachment  which  existed  through  life 
between  these  two  friends. 

"Auboea,  27th  August,  1826. 

"Deae  Maria: — Although  I  have  been  guilty  of 
breaking  my  promise  to  you  of  writing,  and  treated 
vou  with  neglect  aud  indifference,  still  you  are  dear 
and  near  to  me,  still  you  are  remembered  with  that 
affection  which  one  must  feel  after  being  so  long  an 
inmate  with  so  kind  a  girl,  one  who  has  bestowed  upon 
me  so  many  acts  of  kindness  and  friendship.  No, 
Maria,  I  feel  that  I  can  never  forget  your  family.  My 
mind  often  reverts  to  the  pleasant  hours  I  have  passed 
at  your  house.  Many  friendly  conversations  I  have 
bad  with  your  mother  after  the  family  had  retired  to 
rest, — but  those  hours  are  gone  never  to  return,  yet 
the  remembrance  of  them  is  sweet.  Oh,  that  I  may 
again  have  the  pleasure  of  spending  a  happy  evening 
in  your  family  with  the  little  children  sitting  near  me, 
asking  a  thousand  interesting  questions.  Perhaps  I 
may  see  that  time  next  winter — I  hope  so. 

"  Would  you  like  to  know  how  I  am  pleased  with 
the  country  \     It  does  not  appear  to  me  as  pleasant  a? 


LADIES  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         501 

Cayuga,  but  perhaps  it  may  in  time.  I  enjoy  myself 
as  well  as  I  expected  to ;  the  inhabitants,  as  far  as  I 
am  acquainted,  appear  friendly.  I  am  not  yet  house- 
keeping, but  am  teaching  school.  But  Mr.  Dunning 
will  give  all  these  particulars  more  fully  than  I  can 
write  on  this  sheet  of  paper.  You  will  have  a  pleasant 
visit  with  his  sister  Emilv,  I  think  her  an  amiable  girl. 
M  Maria,  if  you  can  forgive  me  for  not  writing,  I  hope 
you  will  let  me  hear  from  you  by  the  bearer  of  this. 
Write  me  all  the  news.  You  cannot  imagine  how  any 
little  circumstance  concerning  my  friends  interests  me, 
when  absent  so  far  from  them.  Ask  Olive  to  write 
to  me  if  she  can  find  leisure.  My  best  respects  to 
your  parents,  and  affectionate  remembrance  to  your 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  believe  me  your  sincere  friend 
and  cousin. 

M  Abigail  Fillmore. 

"Mr.  Fillmore  wished  me  to  present  his  respects  to 
yourself  and  parents. 

"To  Miss  Malta  FuLLEE.,, 

In  the  spring  of  1830,  Mrs.  Fillmore  removed  with 
her  husband  to  Buffalo.  In  the  enjoyment  of  her 
children's  society,  her  husband's  prosperity,  and  the 
pleasure  of  entertaining  her  friends,  she  found  great 
happiness,  and  as  the  years  passed  by,  they  were  noted 
only  for  the  peace  and  contentment  they  brought  her. 

As  her  life  previous  to  this  time  had  been  spent  in 
comparative  seclusion,  so  now  it  "was  a  scene  of  gay 
society.  The  social  element  was  very  largely  developed 
in   her   nature,  and  constant  practice  rendered  it  a 


502  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

marked  characteristic.  All  the  associations  of  hei 
youth  had  been  those  of  the  country,  and  in  its  fresh 
ness  and  beauty,  as  well  as  its  drearier  garb  she  had 
revelled.  Now,  m  her  city  home  she  was  the  same 
artless,  warm-hearted  woman  of  other  years,  basking 
in  the  brightness  about  her  and  reflecting  upon  others 
her  own  quiet  peace.  Well-balanced  and  self-reliant, 
affectionate  and  happy,  there  was  wanting  nothing  to 
complete  her  character.  The  domestic  harmony  of  her 
life  can  be  partly  appreciated  from  the  remark  made 
by  her  husband  after  her  death.  "  For  twenty-seven 
years,  my  entire  married  life,"  he  said,  "  I  was  always 
greeted  with  a  happy  smile.'' 

The  result  of  such  unusual  evenness  of  disposition 
was  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  tender  sympathy 
and  ennobling  affection  of  her  husband,  whose  ambition 
was  only  gratified  when  he  saw  that  she  was  content 
With  her  there  was  no  variation  or  change,  no  de- 
spondency or  doubt  as  to  his  success  in  any  avocation ; 
she  hovered  round  his  pathway,  a  beacon,  and  the 
lisrht  never  crew  dim.  True  and  faithful  in  all  things, 
at  all  times,  she  ever  was;  but  there  was  even  more  of 
ceaseless  vigilance  than  mere  faith  implies,  where  he 
was  concerned.  To  him  who  shielded  her  in  her 
sensitiveness  and  overflowing  affection al  nature,  and,  by 
his  gentleness  and  unremitting  watchfulness,  guarded 
every  avenue  of  her  heart  from  sorrow,  she  meted  the 
wealth  of  her  love,  and  fondness — and  existed  in  the 
sunshine  of  his  presence.  After  her  husband's  acces- 
sion to  the  Presidency,  she  went  to  the  White  House ; 
but  the  recent  death  of  a  sister  kept  her  from  entering 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  503 

into  the  gayety  of  the  outer  world.  As  much  as  pos 
sible  she  screened  herself  from  public  ol  s : rvati ;  d,  and 

left  to  her  daughter  the  duties  devolving  upon  her. 
Her  health  had  become  impaired,  and  she  rather 
shrank  from  the  necessity  of  appearing  before  the 
world  in  the  position  in  which  she  ww  more  thai 
competent  to  acquit  herself  In  such  a  formal  routine 
of  life  she  did  not  delight;  hers  was  a  confiding  nature, 
and  to  her  family  she  always  turned  for  the  happiness 
the  world  could  not  give. 

But  only  by  the  mos:  letails,  by  endless  par- 

ticularities, breathinsr  out  her  whole  life  and  divine 
evidence,  by  their  nature,  of  the  depths  from  which  they 
spring ;  only  by  such  means  is  it  possible,  in  a  degree, 
to  give  some  perception  of  her  remarkable  life — the 
fountain  can  only  be  judged  of  by  the  channel  through 
which  it  flows. 

She  died  at  Willard's  Hotel,  Washington  City, 
on  the  30th  of  March,  1853. 

In  testimony  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the   de- 
ceased, the  public  offices  were  closed,  both   houses  of 
Congress  adjonrned,  and  other  marks  of  resj 
adopted.      Her    remains  were    conveyed  to   Btirtalo. 
where,  on  the  2d  of  April,  they  were  laid  to  rest. 

The  accompanying  letter,  written  by  a  distinguished 
lady  of  Buffalo,  who  was  much  of  the  time  an  inmate 
of  the  "White  House  during  Mrs.  Fillmore's  stay  there, 
is  replete  with  interest,  and  gives  us  an  insight  into  the 
home  life  of  this  noble  woman,  we  could  in  no  other 
way  obtain. 

"The  srreat  interest  I  feel  in  vour  undertaking  has 


504  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

outweighed  my  diffidence  and  decided  me  in  accord- 
ance with  your  request  to  state  briefly  some  of  my  re- 
collections of  the  habits  and  social  trails  of  my  late 
friend,  Mrs.  Fillmore,  with  incidents  of  life  at  the  White 
House. 

"  The  retiring  modesty  of  manner  so  inseparable  from 
the  idea  cf  a  perfect  lady,  was  eminently  characteristic 
of  Mrs.  Fillmore.  Although  well  qualified  and,  when 
occasion  required,  ever  ready  to  act  her  part  in  the 
position  which  Providence  assigned  her,  she  much  pre- 
ferred the  quiet  of  domestic  life.  Her  home  was 
pleasant,  and  while  she  was  a  womau  of  strong  common- 
sense,  her  tastes  were  highly  refined.  Especially  was 
she  fond  of  music  and  of  flowers,  tier  love  for  the 
former  received  great  gratification  from  her  daughter's 
musical  attainments,  and  her  fondness  for  flowers 
amounted  to  a  passion,  and  much  of  her  time  in  her  own 
heme  was  devoted  to  their  culture  and  care. 

lt Mrs.  Fillmore  read  much  and  carefully,  and  being 
possessed  of  excellent  powers  of  observation,  was  con- 
sequently a  well-informed  and  cultivated  woman. 
With  qualities  like  these,  it  is  superfluous  to  say  that, 
when  she  was  called  to  preside  at  the  White  House. 
she  did  it  with  dignity  and  propriety.  She  was  not 
strong  in  health,  and  had  suffered  much  from  a  sprained 
ankle,  from  which  she  never  fully  recovered.  Fortu- 
nately for  her,  the  etiquette  of  Washington  did  not 
require  the  President  and  his  wife  to  return  visits  or 
to  attend  parties,  though  I  believe  the  President  did 
sometimes    dine    with    a    cabinet   minister.     All   the 

ins   of  society   were  met  and  attended  to   by  the 


LADIES    OF    TIIE    WHITE    HOUSE.  505 

daughter,  and  how  well  she,  a  yotrag  girl  just  from 
school,  acquitted  herself  in  this  trying  position,  all  will 
remember  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  come  within 
the  circle  of  her  happy  influence. 

"  When  Mr.  Fillmore  entered  the  White  House,  he 
found  it  entirely  destitute  of  books.  Mrs.  Fillmore 
was  in  the  habit  of  spending  her  leisure  hours  in  read- 
ing, I  might  almost  say  in  studying.  She  was  accus- 
tomed to  be  surrounded  with  books  of  reference,  maps, 
and  all  the  other  acquirements  of  a  well-furnished  li- 
brary, and  she  found  it  difficult  to  content  herself  in  a 
house  devoid  of  such  attractions.  To  meet  this  want, 
Mr.  Fillmore  asked  of  Congress  and  received  an  ap- 
propriation, and  selected  a  library,  devoting  to  that 
purpose  a  large  and  pleasant  room  in  the  second  story 
of  the  house.  Here  Mrs.  Fillmore  surrounded  herself 
with  her  own  little  home  comforts,  here  her  daughter 
had  her  own  piano,  harp,  and  guitar,  and  here  Mrs. 
Fillmore  received  the  informal  visits  of  the  friends  she 
loved,  and  for  her  the  real  pleasure  and  enjoyments  of 
the  WThite  House  were  in  this  room.  With  strangers 
she  was  dignified,  quiet,  and  rather  reserved  ;  but  with 
her  friends,  she  loved  to  throw  aside  all  restraint  and 
enjoy  a  good  laugh  and  indulge  in  a  little  vein  of  hu- 
mor which  lay  quietly  hidden  nnder  the  calm  exterior. 

"  Mrs.  Fillmore  wras  proud  of  her  husband's  success 
in  life,  and  desirous  that  no  reasonable  expectations 
of  the  public  should  be  disappointed.  She  never  ab- 
sented herself  from  the  public  receptions,  dinners,  or 
levees  when  it  was  possible  to  be  present;  but  heT 
delicate  health  frequently  rendered  them  not  only  irk 


50G  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

some,  "bat  very  painful,  and  she  sometimes  kept  her 
bed  all  day  to  favor  that  weak  ankle,  that  she  might 
be  able  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  the  two  hours  she 
would  be  obliged  to  stand  for  the  Friday  evening 
levees. 

"  The  President  and  Mrs.  Fillmore  received  on  Tues- 
day mornings,  from  twelve  till  two  o'clock.  The  levees 
were  on  Friday 'evenings,  from  eight  till  ten,  and-  at 
these  there  was  generally  a  band  of  music,  but  no 
dancing.  Every  Thursday  evening  there  was  a  large 
dinner  party,  and  frequently  another  on  Saturdays. 
Then  there  wTere  often  smaller  dinners  in  the  family 
dining-room,  which  were  more  sociable  and  agreeable, 
as  the  invitations  were  usually  confined  to  the  personal 
friends  of  the  family. 

"  But  what  Mrs.  Fillmore  most  enjoyed  was  to  sur- 
round herself  with  a  choice  selection  of  congenial 
friends  in  her  own  favorite  room — the  library,  wdiere 
she  could  enjoy  the  music  she  so  much  loved,  and  the 
conversation  of  the  cultivated  society  which  Washing 
ton  at  that  time  certainly  afforded.  One  of  these 
evenings  I  remember  with  more  than  ordinary  pleasure. 
Mr.  Webster  was  there,  and  Mr.  Corwin,  and  Mrs.  A. 
H.  H.  Stuart,  of  Virginia,  Judge  Hall  and  his  wife, 
and  possibly  some  other  members  of  the  Cabinet ;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brooks,  of  New  York,  Miss  Derby,  of  Bos- 
ton, then  a  guest  at  the  White  House,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Carroll,  and  several  others  of  the  distinguished  resi- 
dents of  Washington.  Mrs.  Brooks'  daughter,  then 
quite  too  young  to  appear  in  general  society,  was  there 
by  special  request  of  Mrs.  Fillmore,  wrho  so  enjoyed 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  507 

her  wonderfully  sweet  singing,  that  she  relied  upoL 
her  as  one  of  the  attractions  for  this  evening.  Miss 
Fillmore  played  the  piano  with  much  skill  and  exqui- 
site taste.  Indeed,  few  ladies  excelled  her  in  this  ac- 
complishment ;  and  this  evening  she  was  particularly 
successful  in  her  efforts  to  please.  Mrs.  Brooks  accom- 
panied her  upon  the  harp,  which  instrument  she  played 
with  much  grace.  Altogether,  the  music,  the  conver- 
sation, and  the  company  made  it  an  occasion  long  and 
pleasantly  to  be  remembered. 

"  One  of  the  events  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  first  winter  in 
the  Executive  Mansion  was  a  visit  from  his  father.  It 
was  the  first  time  any  President  had  ever  entertained 
his  father  in  the  White  House,  and  Mrs.  Fillmore  was 
very  anxious  lest  some  unlooked-for  event  might  pre- 
vent this  anticipated  pleasure.  But  he  arrived  in 
safety  one  Monday  night.  Tuesday  was  reception 
day.  The  morning  papers  announced  that  the  vener- 
able father  of  the  President  arrived  in  town  the  even- 
ing;; before.  There  was  an  unusual  attendance  at  the 
reception  that  day,  and  it  was  interesting  to  watch 
each  person,  as  they  cast  their  eyes  about  the  room, 
unable  to  light  upon  any  one  who  answered  to  their 
idea  of  the  "venerable  father  of  the  President,"  and 
when  they  were  presented  to  him,  as  he  stood  before 
them,  tall  and  perfectly  erect,  and  with  hair  but  little 
whiter  than  the  President's,  there  was  a  general  expres- 
sion of  surprise.  They  had  evidently  expected  to  see 
an  infirm  old  man,  bent  with  years  and  leaning  upon 
a  cane,  and  Mr.  Xathaniel  Fillmore,  at  the  age  of 
eighty,  did  not  answer  to  that  description.     Senators 


5J 


60S  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

and  Judges,  and  Foreign  Ministers  came  that  morning, 
all  anxious  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  President's 
father.  One  gentleman  from  New  York,  desirous  of 
drawing  him  into  conversation,  said  to  him,  '  Mr.  Fill- 
more, you  have  been  so  very  successful  in  bringing  up 
sons,  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  how  to  raise  my  little 
boy.'  '  Cradle  him  in  a  sap-trough,  sir,'  said  the 
old  gentleman,  always  ready  with  au  answer.  That 
was  an  interesting  reception,  to  the  President  and  to 
all,  and  when  it  was  over,  Mr.  Fillmore  the  elder  said 
to  me,  •  If  I  had  had  the  power  to  mark  out  the  path 
of  life  for  my  son,  it  would  never  have  led  to  this 
place,  but  I  cannot  help  feeling  a  kind  of  pride  in  it 
now  that  he  is  here.' 

u  The  routine  of  life  at  the  White  House  which  came 
under  my  observation,  did  not  vary  materially  from 
week  to  week.  The  social  habits  of  both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fillmore  were  simple  and  in  accordance  with  those 
of  well-bred  people  everywhere.  Without  ostentation 
or  arrogance,  they  maintained  the  honor  of  the  high 
position  they  were  called  to  occupy,  with  quiet  dignity 
and  ease. 

"I  was  not  in  Washington  the  winter  Mrs.  Fillmore 
died,  and  therefore  know  nothing,  except  from  others, 
of  her  illness  and  death,  but  I  know  that  she  died  la- 
mented by  all  who  knew  her  well,  and  leaving  behind 
her  many  pleasant  memories. 

"  Her  death  was  a  terrible  blow  to  her  family,  and 
to  none  more  than  to  her  daughter,  a  young  lady  whose 
beautiful  life  and  sad  death,  following  so  soon  upon  her 
return   to  her  own  home,  made  such  an  indelible  im- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  509 

pression  npou  her  friends,  and  for  whom  all  her  nativo 
city  so  justly  mourned. 

"  The  reverence  her  son  had  for  her  memory,  proves 
her  to  have  been  a  devoted  mother,  and  how  tenderly 
Mr.  Fillmore  cherished  that  memory  is  shown  in  the 
sacredness  with  which  he  treasures  every  memento  of 
her.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  has  carefully  pre- 
served every  line  she  ever  wrote  him,  and  that  he  could 
never  destroy  even  the  little  notes  she  sent  him  on 
business  to  his  office. 

"  Such  affectionate  regards  from  the  living  speak 
volumes  for  the  dead." 

Lines  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Millard  Fillmore,  by 
Miss  Matilda  Stuart,  on  the  occasion  of  her  burial  at 
Forest  Lawn,  April  2d,  1853. 

Give  room,  give  room,  a  friend  is  here, 

She  comes  to  tarry  with  us  now, — 
And  though  no  greeting  on  her  lips, 

2s o  light  of  gladness  on  her  brow, 
Yet  this  is  home — that  hallowed  place 

Where  she  had  fondly  longed  to  rest. 
Here  were  her  earlier,  fresher  joys, 

Here  was  the  hearth-stone  love  had  blest. 

Though  she  had  moved  'mid  stranger  scenes, 

To  share  the  honor  and  the  strife 
Of  him  whose  life  waa  dearer  far 

Than  friend  or  kindred,  home  or  life. — 
Though  she  had  tasted  pleasure's  cup, 

While  it  was  sparkling  to  the  fill, 
And  seen  what  few  may  ever  see, 

Hope's  brightest  dreams  grow  brighter  still ; 

Yet  there  were  place*  in  her  heart 

Where  love  could  rest  and  friendship  live. 


510  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

There  was  a  light  within  her  soul 

Which  earth  could  neither  take  cor  give, 

And  there  were  accents  for  her  ear, 
More  winning  than  the  notes  of  fame, 

Where  household  voices  softly  breathed 
The  sweetness  of  a  mother's  name. 

And  when  she  heard  the  other  voice 

That  comes  bnt  once,  yet  comes  to  all, 
Alike  to  him  who  longs  to  go, 

And  him  who  dreads  to  hear  the  call; 
She  looked  toward  her  brighter  home, 

And  left  life's  garments  frail  and  worn, 
As  calmly  as  she  laid  csida 

The  robes  of  honor  she  had  borne. 

Now  she  has  come  to  sleep  in  peace 
Within  our  grand  old  forest  shades, 

And  fresher  than  the  spring-time  leaves 
Are  those  sweet  memories  that  have  come 

To  steal  the  hi  iter  tear  away. 
And  bid  us  look,  as  she  had  done, 

Bevond  the  pomp  of  Time's  brief  day. 

Around  her  loved  and  honored  grave 

The  severed  "  household  band  "  may  ccme, 
And  seem  to  hear  those  blessed  tones 

That  mr.de  the  music  of  their  home. 
The  faded  form,  the  silent  shrond, 

These,  these  were  all  they  gave  the  tomb; 
She  wa:ches  o'er  them,  while  she  wears 

The  freshness  of  immortal  bloom. 


LADIES    OP   THE   WHITE  HOUSE.  511 


ABIGAIL  FILLMORE. 

The  only  daughter  of  President  Fillmore  ^Yas,  dur- 
ing her  fathers  administration,  in  consequence  of  her 
mother's  ill-health,  the  Lady  of  the  White  House,  and 
as  such  deserves  more  mention  than  the  limits  of  this 
sketch  will  allow.  She  was  remarkable  for  her  mental 
and  intensely  affectional  nature,  and  discovered  during 
her  brief  life  only  those  traits  which  served  to  render 
her  a  source  of  interest  and  admiration.  As  a  child, 
she  was  precocious ;  latterly  in  life,  her  physical  health 
was  so  entirely  good  that  it  overcame  every  tendency 
of  brain  ascendency. 

She  was  well  fitted,  by  education  and  a  long  resi- 
dence in  "Washington,  to  adorn  the  high  station  she 
was  destined  to  fill,  and  acquitted  herself  there,  as  in 
every  other  position,  with  great  dignity  and  self-pos- 
session. 

Her  talents  w^ere  varied,  nor  was  she  a  dull  scholar 
at  any  thing  she  attempted.  With  the  French,  Ger- 
man, and  Spanish  languages,  she  was  thoroughly  con- 
versant, so  thorough,  indeed,  was  her  mastery  of  the 
former  that  a  French  professor  declared  her  accent 
equal  to  that  of  his  own  countrymen. 

Her  taste  for  sculpture  was  fostered  by  association 
with  a  loved  schoolmate,  the  since  renowned  Harriet 
Hosnier. 

Had  her  life  been  spared,  she  would  have  become 


5J2  LADIES   Or    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

famous  through  the  exercise  of  some  one  of  the  many 
talents  given  her,  but  in  less  than  a  year  after  her 
mothers  death  she,  too,  passed  away.  Her  father  and 
brother  were  left  alone  for  a  few  days,  that  she  might 
go  and  see  her  aged  grandparents.  From  this  journey 
ah  did  not  return.  A  message  in  the  night-time 
roused  her  parent  from  his  slumber  to  hasten  to  her, 
and  though  no  time  was  lost,  it  was  too  late.  She  was 
nearing  the  golden  gates  of  the  spirit-land,  when  those 
two  of  a  once  happy  band  reached  her  bedside, 

So  full  of  life  and  health  had  she  been  but  a  few 
short  days  before,  and  so  entirely  unconscious  of  any  ill- 
of  body,  that  she  anticipated  a  visit  of  great  pleas- 
ure ;  after  her  death,  a  memorandum  of  house-work  to 
be  performed  while  she  was  absent,  was  found  in  her 

ket,  expecting  to  be  gone  but  a  few  days. 

The  obituary  notices  are  so  complete  that  I  am  con- 
strained to  quote  them  in  lieu  of  my  own  imperfect 
material,  believing  they  discover  a  more  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  subject  than  I  can  gather  through 
other  sources. 

"The  character  of  Bliss  Alary  Abigail  Fillmore, 
daughter  of  ex-President  Fillmore,  whose  sudden  death 
was  announced  yesterday,  deserves  a  more  extended 
notice.  Though  young — being  but  twenty-two  years 
of  age  on  the  2  7th  day  of  March  last — she  was  widely 
known. 

'•  Being  a  native  of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  most  of  her 
life  had  been  spent  here,  where  she  had  a  numerous 
circle  of  sincere  and  devoted  friends.  From  her  early 
childhood  she  evinced  great  talent  and  industry,  com- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESF-.  513 

Lined  with  judgment  and  discretion,  and  softened  "by 
a  cheerful  and  affectionate  disposition,  which,  made  her 
with  all  a  safe  and  welcome  companion. 

"  As  an  only  and  much  beloved  daughter,  her  parents 
were  resolved  to  give  her  an  excellent,  practical  educa- 
tion. As  they  were  unwilling  to  spare  her  from  the 
little  family  circle,  she  received  much  of  her  primary 
education  at  our  excellent  public  schools,  and  the 
higher  branches,  with  the  modern  languages,  music, 
drawing,  and  painting,  were  taught  her  by  private- 
tutors.  That  she  might  learn,  away  from  home,  some- 
thing of  the  world,  without  imbibing  its  vices,  and  be 
taught  self-reliance  under  judicious  restraints,  she  was 
sent  for  a  siDgle  year  to  the  celebrated  select  family 
school  of  Mrs.  Sedgwick,  in  Lenox,  Massachusetts. 
She  left  that  school,  feeling  the  necessity  of  an  educa- 
tion, not  merely  of  grace  and  ornament,  but  which 
should,  in  case  of  a  reverse  of  fortune  place  her  beyond 
that  degrading  and  painful  feeling  of  dependence,  which 
so  often  renders  the  life  of  a  female  in  this  country  one 
of  wretchedness  and  misery.  She  therefore  expressed 
a  desire  to  attend  the  State  Normal  School  and  qualify 
herself  to  be  a  teacher.  This  she  could  not  do  without 
assuming  an  obligation  to  teach.  To  this  requirement 
she  readily  submitted  and  entered  the  school. 

"  Graduating  at  the  end  of  six  months  with  the  high- 
est honors,  she  was  then  employed  as  a  teacher  in  the 
higher  department  of  one  of  the  public  schools  of 
Buffalo,  for  three  months,  where  she  exhibited  an  apti- 
tude and  capacity  for  teaching  that  gave  entire  satisfac- 
tion. But  the  death  of  General  Taylor  and  the  conse- 
33 


514  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

quent  elevation  of  her  father  to  the  Presidency,  com- 
pelled his  family  to  relinquish  their  residence  here  and 
remove  to  Washington.  This  introduced  her  into  a 
new  sphere  of  action,  but  she  moved  in  it  with  the 
same  apparent  ease  and  grace  that  she  would  have 
done  had  she  been  bred  in  the  midst  of  the  society  of 
the  Federal  city.  At  the  close  of  her  father's  official 
term,  she  was  destined  to  suffer  a  heart-rending  be- 
reavement in  the  death  of  her  excellent  and  devoted 
mother.  She  returned  with  her  father  and  brother  to 
their  desolate  home  in  this  city,  and  by  her  entire  de- 
votion to  the  duties  thus  suddenly  devolved  upon  her, 
she  relieved  her  father  from  all  household  cares,  and 
exhibited  those  high  domestic  and  social  qualities  which 
gave  a  grace  and  charm,  as  well  as  system  and  regu- 
larity, to  the  home  over  which  she  presided.  She 
as;ain  called  around  her  the  friends  of  her  childhood 
and  early  youth,  for  no  change  of  fortune  had  in  the 
least  impaired  her  early  attachments — attachments 
which  she  continued  to  cherish  with  unabated  ardor  and 
devotion.  The  home  of  her  bereaved  father  had  once 
more  become  cheerful  and  happy,  for  her  whole  mind 
and  heart  were  given  to  promote  his  happiness*and  that 
of  her  only  brother,  and  they  repaid  her  devotion  with 
the  kindest  and  most  grateful  affection. 

"  She  had  some  weeks  since  promised  a  visit  to  her 
grandfather,  at  Aurora,  about  seventeen  miles  from 
this  city.  She  went  from  here  in  the  afternoon  of 
Tuesday  last,  in  good  spirits  and  apparent  good  health, 
and  she  reached  Aurora  in  the  evening.  She  appeared 
well  and  cheerful  on  her  arrival,  and  after  conversing 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  515 

with  her  grandparents,  she  retired  to  rest  about  nine 
o'clock. 

"  She  was  soon  after  attacked  with  what  proved  to 
be  the  cholera ;  but  unwilling  to  disturb  the  family, 
she  called  no  one  until  after  12,  when  a  physician  was 
immediately  sent  for,  but  alas  !  too  late.  A  messenger 
was  dispatched  for  her  father  and  brother,  but  they 
only  arrived  to  see  her  breathe  her  last,  unconscious 
of  their  presence.  She  died  about  11  o'clock  on  Wed- 
nesday morning.  The  effects  of  this  crushing  shock 
upon  her  fond  and  devoted  father  and  her  affectionate 
brother  may  perhaps  be  imagined,  but  cannot  be  de- 
scribed. 

» 

"  Her  remains  were  immediately  removed  to  Buffalo 
and  interred  yesterday  in  the  Forest  Lawn  Cemetery, 
by  the  side  of  her  mother.  She  was  followed  to  her 
last  resting-place  by  a  numerous  concourse  of  sorrowing 
friends. 

"  In  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hosmer,  her  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Shelton  officiated  in  the  funeral  services.1' 

THE  LATE  MISS  FILLMORE. 

From  the  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  of  July  2Sth,  1854. 

"  We  yesterday  announced  in  the  usual  terms,  the 
death  of  Mary  A.  Fillmore.  The  sad  event  seems  to 
demand  some  expression  of  our  esteem  for  her  char- 
acter, and  of  our  grief  at  the  heavy  loss.  We  would 
not,  indeed,  obtrude  our  consolations  upon  those  hearts, 
broken  by  so  sudden  a  calamity,  whose  sorrows  human 
sympathy  can  only  pity  in  reverent  silence,  nor  do  we 


516  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

expect  either  to  soothe  or  express  the  feelings  of  that 
intimate  circle  of  friends,  which  her  many  attractions 
had  drawn  around  her.  But  the  contemplation  of  her 
virtues  is  a  relief  to  friendship,  and  we  shall  perform  a 
most  useful  duty.  ix*.  by  a  alight  ;h  of  her  ehi 

ter.  sincerely  and  simply  drawn,  others  shall '  ;  ins] 
to  the  pursuit  of  similar  excellence.  Miss  FSUmoie's 
character  was  written  upon  her  face.  It  was  not  beau- 
tiful, yet  it  was  so  full  of  vivacity  of  intellect,  of  cor- 
diality, and  of  g  -  inesa,  that  it  attracted  more  than 
any  beauty,  and  as  It  rises  I  jforc  as  now,  its  expree 
only  suggests  the  simple  thoug:.:. 

'•  How  gc  :  1.  he "~  id  -1  I     An  Lshc  a  g  jne." 

In  that  character  were  mingled,  in  just  proportion,  al- 
most masculine  judgment  and  the  mos:  feminine  ten- 
derness. Its  leading  feature  was  excellent  common- 
sense,  united  with  great  vivacity  of  temperament,  gen- 
uine sensibility,  and  real  intellectual  force.  "With  a 
keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  overflowing  with  wit  and 
humor,  all  her  views  of  life  :::  nevertheless  _ 
and  serious,  and  she  saw  clearly  beneath  its  forms  and 
shows  in  what  consists  its  real  happiness,  and  dev.  I  . 
herself  to  the  performance  of  its  duties,  with  all  the 
energies  of  a  powerful  will,  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
strictest  conscientiousness.  This  fidelity  to  her  own 
sense  of  duty  had  led  her  most  carefully  to  cultivate 
all  of  her  talents :  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  Bay 
she  was  among  the  most  accomplished  young  women 
ve  have  ever  seen  anions:  us. 

"  She  was.  for  her  years,  o  .  >nly  familiar  wi: h 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  517 

English  literature ;  spoke  the  French  language  with 
ease  and  elegance,  was  well  versed  in  Italian,  and  had 
lately  made  great  progress  in  her  German  studies. 
She  had  much  taste  in  drawing,  but  had  mostly  aban- 
doned that  accomplishment  for  music  ;  because,  as  she 
said,  the  latter  gave  greater  pleasure  to  her  friends, 
and  she  was  a  skilful  performer  both  upon  the  piano 
and  the  harp.  Shortly  before  her  death,  she  had  be- 
gun to  pay  some  attention  to  sculpture,  and  had  got 
her  materials  together  for  self-instruction  in  this  hio;h- 
est  branch  of  art.  It  affords  an  instructive  lesson  upon 
the  use  of  time  to  know,  that  she  had  perfected  her- 
self in  all  these  studies  and  accomplishments  since  her 
father's  accession  to  the  Presidency,  and  in  the  leisure 
moments  of  a  life  almost  devoted  to  societv.  In 
Washington,  the  etiquette  of  the  place  and  her  moth- 
er's feeble  health  combined  to  devolve  upon  her,  al- 
most unaided,  the  entire  performance  of  the  social 
duties  incident  to  her  father's  station.  She  was  but  a 
young  girl  fresh  from  school ;  but  all  admired  the 
self-possession,  the  tact,  and  the  kindness  with  whicli 
she  filled  the  position  allotted  to  her ;  and  how,  young 
and  retired  as  she  was,  society  in  her  presence  became 
something  more  genuine  and  hearty,  as  if  ashamed  of 
its  false  mockeries  in  the  li^ht  of  her  sagacious  mind 
and  honest  heart. 

"  She  was  eminently  social,  and  latterly  her  conver- 
sational powers  were  of  the  first  order.  She  had  read 
much ;  her  advantages  had  been  great,  and  she  had 
reaped  their  entire  fruit.  She  was  a  keen  but  kind  ob- 
server of  character,  had  been  familiar  with  men  and 


518  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

women  of  very  various  ranks  and  descriptions,  and  she 
would  paint  to  the  life  the  very  interesting  events 
which  she  had  witnessed,  and  the  character  of  the 
manv  distinguished  persons  with  whom  her  fortune 
had  made  her  acquainted.  Full  of  information  and  of 
spirits,  more  anxious  always  to  listen  than  to  talk,  yet 
never  at  a  loss,  even  with  the  dullest,  for  something 
pleasant  and  entertaining  to  say,  with  a  countenance 
beaming  with  honesty  and  intellect,  and  with  a  sweet 
cordiality  of  manners  which  invited  at  once  confidence, 
affection,  and  respect.  So  wonder  that  wherever  she 
went  she  became  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  friends  who 
loved  her  most  tenderly,  and  at  the  same  time  looked 
up  to  her  as  one  of  a  stronger  mind  and  heart,  as  a 
guide  and  confidante. 

"  She  was  a  genuine  tender-hearted  woman.  Obser- 
vant of  all  the  forms  of  elegant  life,  yet  with  the  most 
utter  contempt  for  its  mere  fashions ;  kind  and  atten- 
tive to  all,  vet  without  one  point  of  sympathy  with 
inerelv  worldly  people,  she  loved  her  friends  with  all 
the  affection  of  a  strong  and  ardent  nature.  She  never 
saw  or  read  of  a  kind  or  noble  deed  that  her  eyes  did 
not  fill  with  tears. 

••  She  clung  to  her  old  friends  without  regard  to 
their  position  in  life,  and  her  time  and  talents  seemed 
devoted  to  their  happiness  :  she  was  thinking  constant- 
ly of  some  little  surprise,  some  gift,  some  journey 
some  pleasure,  by  which  she  could  contribute  to  the 
enjoyment  of  others.  '  Blessing  she  was.  God  made 
her  so  f  and  with  her  death,  with  many  of  her  friends 
is  dried  up  forever  the  richest  fountain  of  their  happi 
ness. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  519 

"  She  was  reserved  in  the  expression  of  her  religious 
views.  As  is  natural  with  youthful  and  independent 
minds,  she  had  little  comparative  respect  for  creeds 
and  forms,  perhaps  less  than  she  would  have  mani- 
fested in  maturer  years,  but  her  intimate,  friends  knew 
that  she  was  always  governed  by  a  sense  of  religious 
duty,  that  her  relations  to  her  Creator  and  her  Savior 
were  the  subject  of  her  constant  thought,  and  that  she 
trusted  for  her  future  happiness  to  the  kind  mercies  of 
a  benevolent  Father,  to  the  conscientious  improvement 
of  all  her  talents,  to  a  life  devoted  to  deeds  of  kind- 
ness, and  to  a  heart  as  pure  and  unspotted  as  a  child's. 
At  home — ah !  that  house,  all  '  emptied  of  delight,' 
over  which  she  presided  with  so  much  dignity  and 
kindness,  that  forsaken  parlor  where  all  the  happi- 
ness that  social  life  can  give  was  wont  to  be  so  freely 
and  hospitably  enjoyed  ;  the  weeping  servants — those 
bleeding  and  broken  hearts — let  these  tell  what  she 
was  at  home  ! 

"  But  she  is  gone  !  and  young  though  she  was,  she 
has  accomplished  much.  She  has  done  much  to  lay 
the  foundation  in  our  midst  of  a  mode  of  social  life 
more  kind,  genuine,  and  cultivated  than  most  of  what 
is  called  society ;  and  she  has  left  behind  her  the  exam- 
ple of  her  life,  which,  though  most  private  and  retired, 
will  always  be  a  blessing  to  her  friends,  and  through 
them,  we  trust,  to  a  wider  circle  for  many  coming  years 

"  Farewell ! 

"Forgive  our  tears  for  one  removed, 
Thy  creature  whom  we  found  so  fair, 
We  trust  she  lives  in  Thee,  and  there 
We  find  her  worthier  to  be  loved." 


520  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


MRS.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 

There  are  two  classes  of  ladies,  of  whom  the  bio- 
grapher is  compelled  to  write,  and  both  are  alike 
interesting.  One  includes  those  whose  lives  have  been 
passed  in  the  sunshine  of  prosperity  and  allurements 
of  fashionable  society,  who  have  been  widely  known, 
and  who  have  mingled  with  the  leading  characters  of 
this  country.  The  lives  of  such  women  include  innum- 
erable incidents  of  public  and  private  interest  and  are, 
in  fact,  necessary  to  a  perfect  history  of  their  time. 
Like  the  mosaic  settings  of  a  piece  of  century  work,  or 
a  gallery  of  portraits  of  famous  personages,  which  is 
complete  only  as  it  is  a  reflex  of  the  lives  of  all  who 
are  illustrious. 

The  other  class  is  composed  of  those  of  whom  the 
world  knows  little ;  whose  perfect  seclusion  even  in  a 
public  position  has  given  but  little  evidence  of  their 
abilities,  and  the  world,  with  its  eager  curiosity,  has 
been  but  imperfectly  apprised  of  their  merits.  Such 
natures,  howsoever  cultivated  and  developed,  receive 
but  a  small  portion  of  that  admiration  awarded  to  the 
first-mentioned  class.  Their  lives  are  only  known  to 
the  inmates  of  their  home,  and  though  cherished  there 
as  a  beautiful  harmony,  and  their  memory  as  a  holy 
sealed  book,  the  inquirer  after  facts  and  incidents  is 
dismayed  with  the  small  amount  of  material  to  be 
gathered  from  such  an   existence.     Such  an   one  was 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  521 

Mrs.  Pierce ;  and  with  feelings  of  deep  regret  am  I 
compelled  to  acknowledge  the  meagre  particulars  ob- 
tained of  her  life,  for  the  little  learned  is  sufficient 
incentive  to  desire  a  more  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  history  of  one  so  pure  and  elevated.  Of  the  minute 
details  of  her  life,  I  am  entirely  ignorant,  of  partial 
facts,  but  imperfectly  informed. 

Jane .  Means  Appleton  was  born  at  Hampton,  New 
Hampshire,  March  12th,  1806.  She  was  but  one  year 
of  age  when  her  father,  Rev.  Jesse  Appleton,  D.D., 
assumed  the  presidency  of  Bowdoin  College.  Reared 
in  an  atmosphere  of  cultivation  and  refined  Christian 
influences,  the  delicate  child  grew  in  years,  unfolding 
rare  mental  qualifications,  but  fragile  and  drooping  in 
health,  developing  year  by  year  the  most  exquisite 
nervous  organization.  Naturally  inclined  to  pensive 
melancholy — the  result,  partly,  of  her  physical  condi- 
tion, she  was  from  her  childhood  the  victim  of  intense 
sensibilities  and  suffering,  and  was  during  her  life  the 
unfortunate  possessor  of  an  organism*,  whose  every 
vibration  was  wonderfully  acute  and  sensitive.  The 
world  of  suffering  locked  up  in  the  hearts  of  such 
persons  it  is  impossible  to  estimate ;  but  happier  by 
far  is  the  day  of  their  deaths  than  the  years  of  their 
lives.  Blended  with  a  naturally  strong  mind,  Miss 
Appleton  possessed  a  quick  appreciation  of  the  beauti- 
ful, which  in  the  later  years  of  her  life  was  of  priceless 
value  to  her  own  heart.  Thrown  by  her  marriage  into 
the  political  arena,  and  much  in  the  society  of  public 
men  of  note,  she  yet  soared  to  a  higher  theme,  and 
when  not  incompatible  with  politeness,  discovered  to 


522  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

her  company  the  natural  eleyation  of  her  nature. 
Politics,  a  theme  most  generally  uninteresting  to  wo- 
man, was  peculiarly  so  to  her,  and  it  was  in  her 
presence  impassible  to  sustain  a  conversation  on  the 
subject.  In  1834,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  she  was 
married  to  Hon.  Franklin  Pierce,  then  of  Hillsborough, 
and  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  The 
match  was  a  pleasing  union  of  kindred  natures,  and 
was  a  source  of  deep  and  lasting  happiness.  The 
wealth  and  tenderness  of  Mr.  Pierce's  nature,  appreci- 
ated to  its  fullest  extent  by  her,  had  its  reflex  in  the 
urbanity  and  courteousness  with  which  his  conduct 
was  eyer  characterized  toward  others.  He  is  spoken 
of  in  a  recent  publication  as  the  most  popular  man, 
personally,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  who  ever 
occupied  the  position  he  filled. 

To  a  person  organized  as  was  Mia.  Pierce,  5  nblic 
observation  was  extremely  painful,  and  she  shrank 
from  it  always,  preferring  the  quiet  of  her  New  Eng- 
land home  to  fhe  glare  and  glitter  of  fashionable  life 
in  Washington.  "  How  well  she  filled  her  station  as 
wife,  mother,  daughter,  sister,  and  friend,  those  only 
can  tell  who  knew  her  in  these  private  relations.  In 
this  cjuiet  sphere  she  found  her  joy,  and  here  her 
gentle  but  powerful  influence  was  deeply  and  constant- 
ly felt,  through  wise  counsels  and  delicate  Sugg  — :ions, 
the  purest,  finest  tastes  and  a  devoted  life.*' 

"  She  was  not  only  ministered  to,  but  ever  minister- 
ing,''' and  there  is  so  much  of  the  spiritual  in  her  life 
that  from  Bulwer  we  gather  a  refrain  ihds:  applica- 
ble to  her.     u  The  cast  of  her  beauty  was  so  dream 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  523 

like  and  yet*  so  ranging ;  her  temper  was  so  little 
mingled  with  the  common  characteristics  of  women  ; 
it  had  so  little  of  caprice,  so  little  of  vanity,  so  utter 
an  absence  of  all  jealousy  and  all  anger ;  it  was  so  made 
up  of  tenderness  and  devotion,  and  yet  so  imaginative 
and  fairy -like  in  its  fondness,  that  it  was  difficult  to 
bear  only  the  sentiments  of  earth  for  one  who  had  so 
little  of  earth's  clay." 

In  1838,  Mr.  Pierce  removed  from  Hillsborough 
to  Concord,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  reside. 
Four  years  later,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  to 
practice 'law,  and  thereby  make  provisions  for  the 
future.  A  bereavement,  the  second  of  its  kind,  oc- 
curred two  years  later  in  the  loss  of  his  second  son, 
Frank  Eobert. 

When  President  Polk  tendered  Mr.  Pierce  the  po- 
sition of  Attornev-General,  it  was  the  illness  of  his 
wife  which  drew  from  him  his  reply  declining  it. 
He  says  : 

"  Although  the  early  years  of  my  manhood  were 
devoted  to  public  life,  it  was  never  really  suited  to  my 
taste,  I  longed,  as  I  am  sure  you  must  often  have 
done,  for  the  quiet  and  independence  that  belong  only 
to  the  private  citizen,  and  now,  at  forty,  I  feel  that  de- 
sire stronger  than  ever. 

"  Coming  so  unexpectedly  as  this  offer  does,  it  would 
be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  arrange  the  business 
of  an  extensive  practice,  between  this  and  the  first  of 
November,  in  a  manner  at  all  satisfactory  to  myself, 
or  to  those  who  have  committed  their  interests  to  my 
care,  and  who  rely  on  my  services.     Besides,  you  know 


524  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

that  Mrs.  Pierce's  health,  while  at  Washington,  was 
very  delicate.  It  is,  I  fear,  even  more  so  now  ;  and  the 
responsibilities  which  the  proposed  change,  would  neces- 
sarily impose  upon  her,  ought,  probably,  in  themselves 
to  constitute  an  insurmountable  objection  to  leaving 
our  quiet  home  for  a  public  station  at  Washington.1' 

Mrs.  Pierce  was  not  called  upon  to  leave  her  pleas- 
ant home,  and  for  another  year  she  passed  her  time  in 
tranquil  happiness,  little  dreaming  that  her  country 
would  so  soon  demand  the  sacrifice  of  him  who  thought 
not  of  public  honors  when  she  was  concerned. 

The  declaration  of  war  with  Mexico  found  him 
ready  and  willing  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  his 
State  and  Government,  by  enlisting  as  a  private  soldier 
in  a  company  raised  in  Concord.  He  was  subsequently 
appointed  Colonel,  and  finally  Brigadier-General,  which 
position  he  filled  with,  honor  and  distinction.  He 
sailed  from  Newport,  the  27th  of  May,  1847,  and  re- 
mained in  Mexico  nine  months,  during  which,  time  Mrs. 
Pierce  and  her  son  continued  at  their  home  in  Concord. 
Her  health  during  his  absence  w^as  not  more  frail 
than  usual,  but  anxiety  and  suspense,  watching  yet 
fearing:  to  hear  of  the  absent  one,  kei3t  her  from  re- 
gaining  or  improving  her  impaired  constitution,  and  of 
renewing  the  slender  chord  by  which  her  life  was 
held. 

Mrs.  Pierce  attained,  through  sorrow,  the  perfection 
of  many  of  her  most  ennobling  traits,  and  in  the 
words  of  her  obituary,  "  her  Christian  character  was 
formed  and  developed  under  the  constant  presence  of 
infirmities,  with  frequent  heavy  trials." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  525 

The  mother  of  three  children,  none  survived  her, 
and  the  death  of  the  last,  under  circumstances  so  pe- 
culiar, shattered  the  small  remnant  of  remainin £  health, 
and  left  her  mother's  heart  forever  desolate.  On  the 
5th  of  January,  previous  to  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Pierce  as  President,  an  accident  occurred  on  the  Boston 
&  Maine  Railroad,  which  resulted  in  a  great  calamity  ; 
among  the  passengers  were  the  President  elect,  his 
wife,  and  only  son,  a  bright  boy  of  thirteen  years. 
The  family  were  on  their  return  to  Concord  from  Bos- 
ton, and  it  wras  between  Andover  and  Lawrence  that 
the  axle  of  one  of  the  passenger-cars  broke,  and  the  cars 
were  precipitated  down  a  steep  embaukment.  Mr. 
Pierce,  sitting  beside  his  wife,  felt  the  unsteady  move- 
ments of  the  train  and  instantly  divined  the  cause. 
Across  the  seat  from  them  sat  their  son,  who  but  a  mo- 
ment ago  was  amusing  them  with  his  conversation. 
A  crash,  a  bounding  motion  as  the  cars  were  thrown 
over  and  over  down  the  hill,  and  men  be^an  to  recover 
from  their  fright  and  assist  in  aiding  those  injured  in 
the  fearful  accident.  Mr.  Pierce,  though  much  bruised, 
succeeded  in  extricating  his  wife  from  the  ruins,  and 
bearing  her  to  a  place  of  safety,  returned  to  hunt  his 
boy. 

He  was  soon  found  ;  his  young  head  crushed  and 
confined  under  a  beam,  his  little  body  still  in  death. 
Even  now  it  is  a  subject  too  painful  to  dwell  upon. 
What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  those  grief-stricken 
parents,  in  a  moment  bereft  of  their  all ! 

The  remains  were  conveyed  to  Andover  until  ar« 
rangements  could  be  made  for  their  removal  to  Con- 
cord. 


b'2Q  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Under  such  a  bereavement,  in  feeble  health  and 
exhausted  vitality,  came  Mrs.  Pierce  to  the  "White 
House. 

Through  the  season,  before  her  great  trial  was  sent 
upon  her,  she  had  been  nerving  herself  for  the  unde- 
sired  duties  and  responsibilities  of  her  public  station 
at  Washington  ;  and  with  the  burden  of  that  crashing 
sorrow  she  went  forward,  with  the  noblest  self-sacrifice, 
to  do  what  was  to  be  done,  as  well  as  to  bear  what 
was  to  be  borne.  That  she  performed  her  task  nobly 
and  sustained  the  dignity  of  her  husband,  the  following 
letter  will  prove. 

'■  Washts-gto.v,  March  lSth,  1869. 

':  My  Dbab  Mabam :  I  learn  that  Prof.  Aiken's 
notice  of  Mrs.  Pierce,  that  appeared  in  the  Observer, 
has  been  sent  to  you.  and  I  presume  it  does  not  con- 
tain information  on  all  the  points  you  desired  to  reach 
particularly.  Hence  this  note.  The  idea  has  some- 
how gone  out  that  Mrs.  Pierce  did  not  participate  in 
the  receptions  and  entertainments  at  the  White  House. 
Mi\  Gobright,  in  his  book  recently  published,  '  Eecol- 
lections  of  Men  and  Things  at  Washington,'  makes 
the  statement  that  Mrs.  Pierce  did  not,  until  the  close 
of  the  administration  of  President  Pierce,  appear  at 
the  receptions.  This  is  an  inexcusable  blunder,  for 
Mr.  Gobright  was  here  on  the  spot,  and  should  have 
known  better.  The  fact  is.  Mrs.  Pierce  seldom  omitted 
attendance  upon  the  public  receptions  of  the  Presi- 
dent. She  was  punctually  present  also  at  her  own 
Friday  receptions,  although  at  times  suffering  greatly 


LADIES    OF    THE   "WHITE    HOUSE.  527 

Often  in  the  evening  of  the  President's  levee,  she 
would  allow  herself  to  be  conducted  into  the  Blue 
Room,  and  there  remain  all  the  evening  receiving,  with 
that  quiet  ease  and  dignity  that  characterized  her 
always :  a  duty  which  few  ladies,  indeed,  would  have 
had  the  courage  to  perform  in  her  then  delicate  state 
of  health.  She  presided,  too,  with  the  President  at 
the  State  dinners,  as  well  as  those  of  a  more  social 
character,  and  certainly  never  before  or  since,  was  more 
hospitality  dispensed  by  any  occupant  of  the  White 
House.  The  most  agreeable  memories  of  Mrs.  Pierce 
at  the  Presidential  Mansion,  and  such  only,  are  re- 
tained and  cherished  in  this  city.  The  days  of  that 
period  when  a  quiet  and  dignified  but  hearty  hospi- 
tality signalized  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Constitution,  which  diffused  a  sense  of 
all-pervading  security,  were  indeed  the  bright  days  of 
the  Republic.  This  is  the  view  of  our  own  people, 
and  who  are  better  judges  than  they  who  have  seen 
so  many  Administrations  here  i 

"  Every  one  knew  and  respected  the  enfeebled  con- 
dition of  Mrs.  Pierce's  health,  and  felt  that  the  sad 
event  which  happened  only  a  short  time  before  she 
came  to  Washington,  on  that  fatal  railroad  train,  might 
have  shattered  a  much  hardier  constitution  than  was 
hers,  and  at  least  have  unfitted  her,  physically  as  well 
as  mentallv,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  Ladv  of  the 
White  House.  Yet  she  suppressed  her  inward  grief 
before  the  public  eye,  and  overcame  her  debility  in 
deference  to  what  she  believed  to  be  her  duty  toward 
h^r  distinguished  husband's  exalted  position.     Those 


528  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

who  knew  Mrs.  Pierce  well  at  this  time  eulogized  her 
heroism. 

u  No  lady  of  the  White  House  left  more  warm 
friends  in  Washington  among  our  "best  people,  and  she. 
had  not  a  single  enemy.  What  I  have  written  above, 
vou  are  at  liberty,  madam,  to  use  (if  you  deem  it 
worthy)  in  your  forthcoming  work.  It  has  the  merit 
at  least  of  being  the  testimony  of  '  one  who  .knows/ 
I  give  it  in  order  that  the  grievously  wrong  state- 
ments in  Mr,  Gobright's  work,  concerning  Mi's.  Pierce, 
may  be  corrected,  and  the  error  exposed  before  it 
passes  into  history. 

u  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  with  the  highest  considera- 
tion, your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  D.  Hoovee. 

"  It  is  no  disparagement  to  others  who  have  occu- 
pied her  station  at  the  White  House,  to  claim  for  her 
an  unsurpassed  dignity  and  grace,  delicacy  and  purity, 
in  all  that  pertains  to  public  life.  There  was  a  home, 
a  Christian  home,  quietly  and  constantly  maintained, 
and  very  many  hearts  rejoiced  in  its  blessings." 

Mrs.  Pierce  was  always  extremely  delicate,  and 
was  reduced  to  a  mere  shadow  after  the  loss  of  her 
son.  I  have  heard  a  gentleman  say,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Mr.  Pierce's  family  at  the  time,  that  "  it  was 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  she  could  endure  the  fatigue 
of  standing  during  a  reception,  or  sitting  the  tedious 
hours  of  a  dinner  party,"  and  her  courage  must  have 
been  all-powerful  to  have  sustained  her  under  the 
most   uncongenial   of   all  things  to  an  invalid — the 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  529 

presence  of  comparative,  and  in  many  cases  entire, 
strangers.  Her  pious  scruples  regarding  the  keeping 
of  the  Sabbath  were  a  marked  attribute  of  her  life. 
Each  Sunday  morning  of  her  four  years'  stay  in  the 
White  House,  she  would  request,  in  her  gentle,  con- 
ciliatory way,  all  the -attaches  of  the  Mansion  to  go 
to  church,  and  on  their  return,  would  make  pleasant  in- 
quiries of  what  they  had  heard,  &c.  "Many  a  time," 
remarked  Mr.  Webster,  the  Private  Secretary,  "  have 
I  gone  from  respect  to  her,  when,  if  left  to  my  own 
choice,  I  should  have  remained  in  the  house.'1  In  her 
unobtrusive  way,  ever  thoughtful  of  the  happiness  of 
those  about  her,  she  diverted  their  minds  to  the  ele- 
vated and  spiritual,  and  sought,  in  her  own  life,  to  be 
a  guide  for  the  young  with  whom  she  was  thrown. 
How  rare  are  these  exquisite  organizations,  and  how 
little  do  we  know  of  them,  even  though  they  have 
lived  in  our  midst,  and  formed  a  part  of  us !  Awhile 
they  linger  here  to  learn  the  way  to  brighter  spheres, 
and  when  they  vanish,  naught  is  left  but  a  memory 
fragrant  with  the  rich  perfume  of  a  beautiful,  unself 
ish  life. 

In  the  autumn  of  1857,  Mrs.  Pierce,  accompanied  by 
her  husband,  left  the  United  States  on  the  steamer 
"  Powhatan  "  for  the  island  of  Madeira,  and  passed  six 
months  in  that  delightful  place.  The  following  eigh- 
teen months  were  spent  in  Portugal,  Spain,  France, 
Switzerland,  Italy,  Germany,  and  England.  Of  her 
appreciation  of  this  lengthy  sojourn  in  the  most  his- 
toric and  renowned  countries  of  the  old  world,  we  have 
no  evidence  save  in  the  supposition,  how  one  of  her 


530  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

fine  uervous  nature  must  have  enjoyed  the  bygone 
splendors  of  Spain,  the  ever-ranging  panorama  of  lux- 
urious Paris,  and  the  snow-capped  mountains  of  Italy 
and  Switzerland,  of  trie  Alps,  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  the 
tamer  scenery  of  German  towns  and  cities !  Would 
that  it  were  possible  to  present  even  one  of  her  letters 
to  the  American  public  who  have  ever  evinced  their 
regard  and  admiration  for  Mrs.  Pierce,  through  the  sym- 
pathy extended  to  her  now  desolate  husband.  But 
that  repugnance  to  publicity,  so  characteristic  in  life, 
is  respected  now  by  the  few  of  her  family  who  have 
survived  her,  and  the  painful  recollections  of  what  she 
suffered,  are  as  vet  too  fresh  in  the  minds  of  her  friends 
to  desire  them  to  be  recalled. 

From  a  member  of  her  family,  who  has  very  kindly 
replied  to  several  inquires,  I  have  gained  all  the  infor- 
mation contained  in  this  brief  sketch.  He  will  pardon 
me,  if  I  quote  from  his  last  letter  these  few  lines. 

u  If  your  attention  has  been  called  to  the  obituary 
notice  of  Mrs.  Pierce,  published  in  the  Boston  Record- 
er, of  January  Sth,  IS 64,  and  reproduced  in  the  New 
York  Observer  within  two  or  three  weeks  of  that  date, 
you  may  have  been  impressed  with  the  sentences, f  She 
shrank  with  extreme  sensitiveness  from  public  obser- 
vation.' I  cannot  help  being  influenced  by  that  very 
controlling  trait  of  her  character,  and  this,  I  am  sure,  is 
true  of  all  her  relatives.  Hence,  and  indeed,  in  consult- 
ing our  own  tastes,  we  were  thoroughly  satisfied  with 
the  sketch  from  the  hand  of  one  who  knew  her  inti- 
mately, from  his  early  manhood,  and  loved  her  welL 

•'  Mm  Pierce's  life,  as  far  as  she  could  make  it  so,  was 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  531 

one  of  retirement.  She  very  rarely  participated  in  gay 
amusements,  and  never  enjoyed  what  is  sometimes 
called  fashionable  society.  Her  natural  endowments 
were  of  a  high  order,  recognized  by  all  persons  with 
whom  she  was,  to  any  considerable  extent,  associated. 
She  inherited  a  judgment  singularly  clear  and  correct, 
and  a  taste  almost  unerring.  She  was  carefully  and 
thoroughly  educated,  and  moved  all  her  life,  prior  to 
her  marriage,  very  quietly  in  a  circle  of  relatives  and 
intimate  friends  of  rare  culture  and  refinement." 

■55-  ■&  *  *  *  » 

On  the  2d  of  December,  1863,  at  Andover,  Massa- 
chusetts, she  died.  Many  of  her  kindred  and  all  her 
children  had  gone  before  her,  and  she  was  ready  to  join 
them.  But  she  was  patient,  and  had  "  learned  to  wait, 
with  orowino*  confidence  and  love  for  the  revealing:  of 
her  Heavenly  Father's  will."  Among  her  last  words 
was  the  familiar  line, 

"  Other  refuge  have  I  none," 

repeated  with  all  the  emphasis  of  which  she  was  then 
capable.    Now  she  has  reached  that  refuge. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  she  was  buried  by  the 
side  of  her  children  in  the  cemetery  at  Concord,  New 
Hampshire. 

"  Her  husband  moves  on  in  life's  journey  alone. 
What  this  means  to  him,  will  be  in  a  measure  under- 
stood by  those  who  know  the  wealth  and  tenderness 
of  his  affections,  the  peerless  devotion  witk  which  he 
has  lived,  especially  since  his  release  from  public  du 


532  LADIES    OP    THE    WHJjTE    HOUSE. 

ties,  and  her  worthiness  to  be  the  object  of  such  a  love 
and  service." 

Those  who  knew  her  will  be  glad,  glad  just  in  pro- 
portion to  the  intimacy  of  their  acquaintance  with  her, 
to  be  reminded  of  the  qualities  in  which  they  found  so 
much  delight.  To  others  who  have  only  known  of 
her,  and  that  mainly  in  connection  with  her  sorrows, 
it  will  be  just  to  present  very  briefly  other  aspects  of 
her  life.  Her  fine  natural  endowments  were  developed 
by  a  careful  and  generous  culture,  not  merely  under 
the  forms  of  education,  but  through  the  agency  of  all 
the  examples  and  influences  of  her  early  home  and  the 
circle  of  related  families.  No  one  knew  better  how  to 
make  tributary  all  the  experience  of  life.  All  her  in- 
stincts and  choices  drew  her  toward,  and  attracted  to- 
ward her,  whatever  was  refining  and  elevating.  Her 
tastes  were  of  exceeding  delicacy  and  purity.  Her  eye 
appreciated,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  whatever  was  beau- 
tiful in  nature  and  art.  During  the  last  years  of  her 
invalid  life,  she  found  not  merely  physical  relief,  but 
the  deepest  gratification  in  foreign  travel,  and  in  resi- 
dence near  our  own  New  England  mountains  and  sea- 
shore.  This  contact  with  nature's  freshness  and  vari- 
ety and  beauty,  often  renewed  her  strength  when  the 
ministries  of  human  affection  and  skill  were  alike 
powerless. 

The  following  touching  tribute  was  written  by  a 
friend  whose  affection  for  Mrs.  Pierce  knows  no  change 
He  sent  it  carefully  wrapped  in  many  covers  to  pro- 
tect it.  Oft  used  and  much  worn  as  it  is,  he  prizes  the 
paper,  from  the  associations  clustered  with  its  appear- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  533 

ance,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written 
Its  beauty  is  its  truth  and  simplicity. 

"  The  distinctions  of  earth  fade  away  in  the  pres- 
ence of  death ;  but  the  memory  of  departed  excellence 
comes  forth  fresh  and  perennial  from  the  very  portals 
of  the  grave. 

"To-day  this  paper  records  the  lamented  decease  of 
one  who  has  filled  the  highest  station  in  the  land  with 
dignity  and  propriety  unsurpassed,  and  who  has 
adorned  private  life  with  every  estimable  quality 
which  could  become  a  true  Christian  gentlewoman. 

"  The  many  who  have  esteemed  and  respected  her 
throughout  life  will  deeply  deplore  her  loss,  and  will 
sincerely  sympathize  with  him  who  has  been  thus 
called  to  submit  to  one  of  the  severest  of  human  afflic- 
tions. 

"His  beloved  companion  has  passed  through  great 
sufferings,  bearing  always  with  him  the  memory  of  a 
great  grief;  and  she  has  doubtless  gone  to  that  rest 
which  we  know  { remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.' " 


534  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 


HARRIET  LANE. 

The  name  of  Harriet  Lane  is  so  nearly  associated 
with  the  latest  and  most  illustrious  years  of  her  uncle, 
James  Buchanan,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  write  a  life 
of  the  one,  in  which  the  other  shall  not  fill  some  space. 
Of  all  his  kindred  she  was  the  closest  to  him.  Given 
to  his  care  when  she  was  scarcely  past  iufancy,  she  took 
the  place  of  a  child  in  his  lonely  heart,  and  when  she 
reached  womanhood,  she  repaid  his  affection  by  minis- 
tering, with  rare  tact  and  grace,  abroad  and  at  home, 
in  public  life  and  in  private,  over  a  household  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  the  cheerless  abode  of  an 
old  bachelor.  The  sketch  of  her  history  which  we 
propose  to  give  will,  therefore,  necessarily  involve 
many  recollections  of  the  great  ex-President,  dead  so 
recently  that  we  can  hardly  realize  that  he  is  gone. 

Harriet  Lane  is  of  Pennsylvania  blood,  of  English 
ancestry,  on  the  side  of  her  father,  and  Scotch-Irish 
on  that  of  her  mother.  Her  grandfather,  James  Bu- 
chanan, emigrated  to  America  from  the  north  of 
Ireland,  in  the  year  1783,  and  settled  near  Mercers- 
burg,  in  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania.  In  the  year 
1788,  he  married  Elizabeth  Speer,  the  daughter  of  a 
substantial  farmer,  a  woman  of  strong  intellect  and 
deep  piety.  The  eldest  child  cf  this  marriage  was 
James,  the  late  ex-President.      He  spoke  uniformly 


(7^<3^C^<L^Z?   (LKa^^fc. y&^^Ac^ 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  535 

with  the  deepest  reverence  of  both  his  father  and 
mother,  and  took  delight  in  ascribing  to  the  teachings 
of  that  good  woman,  all  the  success  that  he  had  won  in 
this  world. 

Jane  Buchanan,  the  next  child  after  James,  his 
playmate  in  youth,  his  favorite  sister  through  life, 
known  as  the  most  sprightly  and  agreeable  member  of 
a  family  all  gifted,  was  married,  in  the  year  IS  13,  to 
Elliot  T.  Lane,  a  merchant  largely  engaged  in  the  lu- 
crative trade  at  that  time  carried  on  between  the  east 
and  the  west,  by  the  great  highway  that  passed  through 
Franklin  County.  In  this  trade,  James  Buchanan  the 
elder  had  accumulated  his  fortune,  and  on  the  mar- 
riage of  his  daughter  with  Mr.  Lane,  much  of  his  busi- 
ness passed  into  the  hands  of  the  latter. 

Mr.  Lane  was  descended  from  an  old  and  aristo- 
cratic English  family,  who  had  settled  in  Virginia  dur- 
ing the  Revolution,  and  he  was  connected  with  some  of 
the  best  names  of  this  land.  His  business  talents  were 
well  known  and  trusted,  and  all  who  enjoyed  his  ac- 
quaintance, testify  to  tlie  uncommon  amiability  of  his 
disposition. 

Harriet,  the  youngest  child  of  Elliot  T.  Lane  and 
Jane  Buchanan,  spent  the  first  years  of  her  life  in  the 
picturesque  village  of  Mercersburg,  in  the  midst  of  a 
society  distinguished  for  its  intelligence  and  refine- 
ment. She  inherited  the  vivacity  of  her  mother,  was 
a  mischievous  child,  overflowing  with  health  and  good 
humor.  Her  uncle  James,  then  in  the  prime  of  life, 
und  already  an  illustrious  man,  paid  frequent  visits  to 


536  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

his  birth-place,  and  the  impression  which  his  august 
presence  and  charming  talk  made  upon  little  Harriet, 
was  deep  and  lasting.  She  conceived  an  affection  and 
reverence  for  him  which  knew  no  abatement  till  the 
hour  of  his  death. 

Her  mother  died  when  she  was  but  seven  years 
old,  and  her  father  survived  but  two  years  longer. 
She  was  left  well  provided  with  money,  and  with  a 
large  family  connection,  but  at  his  solicitation,  she  ac- 
cepted as  a  home  the  house  of  her  uncle  James,  and 
sought  his  guardianship  in  preference  to  that  of  any 
of  her  other  relatives. 

Although  Mr.  Buchanan  was  not  particularly  fond 
of  children,  he  was  attracted  toward  this  frank  and 
handsome  child  from  her  earliest  infancy.  Her  ex- 
uberant spirits,  love  of  mischief,  and  wild  pranks, 
called  forth  from  him  daily  lectures  and  severe  re- 
bukes, but  his  acquaintances  all  knew  that  he  was 
well  pleased  to  have  been  singled  out  by  the  noble 
and  affectionate  girl  as  her  guidej  philosopher,  and 
friend.  No  doubt  that  even  at  that  early  age,  he  rec- 
ognized in  her  a  kindred  spirit,  and  his  good  angel 
whispered  to  him  that  the  boisterous  child,  who  some- 
times disturbed  his  studies,  and  mimicked  his  best 
friends,  would  one  day  be  to  him  a  fit  adviser  in  diffi- 
culty, a  sympathetic  companion  in  sorrow,  the  light 
and  ornament  of  his  public  life,  and  the  comfort,  at 
last,  of  his  lonely  hearth. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  reticent  in  speaking  the  praises, 
however  well  deserved,  of  his  near  relatives,  but  he 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  537 

has  been  known,  especially  of  late  years,  to  dwell  with 
a  delight  he  could  not  conceal,  upon  the  admirable 
qualities  displayed  by  Miss  Lane  in  childhood.  Said 
he,  "  She  never  told  a  lie.  She  had  a  soul  above  de- 
ceit or  fraud.     She  was  too  proud  for  it." 

During  the  earliest  years  of  Miss  Lane's  residence 
with  her  uncle,  in  Lancaster,  she  attended  a  day-school 
there,  and,  though  she  evinced  much  more  than  the 
usual  aptitude  for  study,  she  was  chiefly  distinguished 
as  a  fun-loving,  trick-playing  romp,  and  a  wilful  do- 
mestic outlaw. 

There  was  one  anecdote  her  uncle  liked  to  tell  of 
her,  as  an  evidence  of  her  independent  spirit  and  her 
kind  heart.  When  she  was  about  eleven  years  old, 
she  was  well  grown  and,  indeed,  mature  looking  for 
her  age.  Unlike  most  young  ladies  at  that  ambitious 
period  of  life,  she  was  entirely  unconscious  of  her  bud- 
ding charms,  never  dreaming  that  men  must  pause  to 
wonder  at  and  admire  her,  and  that  her  actions  were 
no  longer  unimportant  as  those  of  a  child.  One  day 
Mr.  Buchanan  was  shocked  upon  beholding  from  his 
window  Miss  Harriet,  with  flushed  cheek  and  hat 
awry,  trundling  along,  in  great  haste,  a  wheelbarrow 
full  of  wood.  Upon  his  rushing  out  to  enquire  into 
the  cause  of  such  an  unseemly  and  undignified  proceed- 
ing, she  answered  in  some  confusion,  that  she  was  just 
on  her  way  to  old  black  Aunt  Tabitha,  with  a  load  of 
wood,  because  it  was  so  cold. 

In  administering  the  reproof  that  followed,  Mr. 
Buchanan  took  good  care  that  she  should  not  see  the 


538  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

amused  and  gratified  smile  with  which  he  turned  awav 

o  » 

from  the  generous  culprit. 

About  this  time,  her  uncle  executed  a  threat  which 
he  had  long  held  suspended  over  Harriet.  This  was 
to  place  her  under  the  tender  care  of  a  couple  of  eld- 
erly maidens  of  the  place — ladies  famous  for  their 
strict  sense  of  propriety  and  their  mean  domestic  econ- 
omy— just  such  rule  as  our  high-spirited  young  lady 
would  chafe  under.  She  had  never  believed  her  uncle 
to  be  in  earnest  about  the  matter,  and  her  horror  at 
finding  herself  duly  installed  in  this  pious  household, 
under  the  surveillance  of  these  old  damsels,  must  have 
been  comical  enough  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  was  never 
blind  to  the  funny  side  of  any  thing.  He  was  in  the 
Senate  at  the  time,  and  she  was  in  the  habit  of  pour- 
ing out  her  soul  to  him  in  childish  letters  that  com- 
plained of  early  hours,  brown  sugar  in  tea,  restrictions 
in  dress,  stiff  necks,  and  cold  hearts.  The  winter 
passed  slowly  away,  only  solaced  by  the  regular  arri- 
val of  fatherly  letters  from  her  uncle,  or  by  an  occa- 
sional frolic  out  of  doors — to  say  nothing  of  pockets- 
ful  of  crackers  and  rock-candy,  with  which  the  appe- 
tite of  the  young  woman  was  appeased,  her  simple  fare 
being,  if  not  scantv,  unsuited  to  the  tastes  of  one  who 
had  sat  at  Mr.  Buchanan's  table. 

The  next  autumn,  when  she  was  twelve  years  old, 
she  was  sent  with  her  sister,  a  lovely  girl  but  a  few 
years  Harriet's  senior,  to  a  school  in  Charlestown, 
Va.  Here  they  remained  three  years.  Harriet  was 
not  a  student,  but  she  knew  her  lessons  because  it  was 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  539 

no  trouble  for  her  to  learn  them.  She  was  excessively 
fond  of  music,  and  made  great  progress  in  it.  Her 
vacations  were  spent  with  Mr.  Buchanan  ;  but  the  great 
event  of, those  three  years  was  a  visit  with  him  to 
Bedford  Springs.  It  was  a  glorious  time,  which  even 
now  the  woman  of  the  world  looks  back  upon  with 
her  own  bright  smile  of  pleasure. 

She  was  next  sent  to  the  convent  at  Georgetown — 
a  school  justly  celebrated  for  the  elegant  women  who 
have  been  educated  there.  Miss  Lane  went  over  to 
Washington  every  month,  and  spent  Saturday  and 
Sunday  with  her  uncle,  then  Secretary  of  State.  These 
visits  were,  of  course,  delightful.  Without  seeing  any 
gay  society,  she  always  met  at  Mr.  Buchanan's  honse 
such  men  as  few  young  girls  could  appreciate,  and 
listened  to  such  conversation  as  would  improve  the 
taste  of  any  one. 

Miss  Lane  at  once  became  a  great  favorite  with  the 
sisters,  who  constantly  expressed  the  highest  opinion 
of  her  talents  and  her  principles. 

Before  Mr.  Buchanan  had  decided  to  send  her  to 
the  convent,  he  had  asked,  "Do  you  think  you  would 
become  a  Roman  Catholic?1'  She  was  anxious  to  £0, 
but  she  answered,  "I  cant  promise;  I  don't  know 
enough  about  their  faith."  "  Well/'  said  he,  "  if  you 
are  a  good  Catholic,  I  will  be  satisfied.*' 

She  did  not  change  her  religious  opinions,  but  her 
intercourse  with  the  £Ood  sisters  has  alwavs  made  her 
respect  the  old  church,  and  has  taught  her  sympathy 
and  charity  for  all  God's  people. 


540  LADIES    OF    TBE    WHITE   HOUSE. 

Here  she  became  very  proficient  in  music,  an  accoin« 
plishment  which,  unfortunately  for  her  friends,  she  has 
much  neglected,  owing  to  her  constant  engagements  in 
social  life  and  her  disinclination  for  display  in  her  public 
position.  The  nuns  were  anxious  to  have  her  learn  to 
play  upon  the  harp,  not  only  on  account  of  her  musical 
taste,  but  because  of  her  graceful  person  and  exquisite 
hand.  For  some  reason,  however,  she  never  took 
lessons  upon  that  beautiful  instrument,  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  display  the  charms  of  a  graceful  woman. 

Her  uncle  once  asked  in  a  letter  what  were  her 
favorite  studies.  She  answered,  "History,  astronomy, 
and  especially  mythology."  Mr.  Buchanan  did  not 
forget  this  avowed  preference,  and  in  after-years  grati- 
fied his  natural  disposition  to  quiz  those  of  whom  he 
was  fond,  by  appealing  to  his  niece  as  authority  on 
mythological  questions,  in  the  presence  of  company 
before  whom  she  would  have  preferred  to  be  silent. 

Miss  Lane  was  exceedingly  quick  and  bright.  She 
never  applied  her  whole  mind  to  study  except  the  last 
of  the  two  years  she  spent  at  Georgetown.  The  result 
of  that  effort  was  that  she  won  golden  opinions  and 
graduated  with  great  honor.  She  left  the  school,  loved 
and  regretted  by  the  sisters,  with  some  of  whom  she 
has  been  on  terms  of  close  friendship  ever  since.  They 
always  speak  of  her  with  pride,  and  have  followed  her 
career  with  an  interest  they  seldom  evince  in  any  thing 
outside  their  sphere  of  seclusion  and  quiet. 

At  this  time,  Miss  Lane's  proportions  were  of  the 
most  perfect  womanliness.      Tall  enough  to  be  com- 


LADIES  OP  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.         541 

manding,  yet  not  high  enough  to  attract  observation — 
light  enough  to  be  graceful,  but  so  full  as  to  indicate 
the  perfect  health  with  which  she  was  blest.  Indeed, 
this  appearance  of  health  was  the  first  impression  pro* 
duced  by  Miss  Lane  upon  the  beholder.  It  made  one 
feel  stronger  only  to  watch  her  firm,  quick  step  and 
round,  elastic  form.  Her  clear,  ringing  voice  spoke 
of  life.  The  truthful,  steady  light  of  her  eyes  inspired 
one  with  confidence  in  humanity,  and  the  color  that 
came  and  went  in  her  cheek,  set  one's  own  blood  to  a 
more  youthful,  joyous  bound. 

Miss  Lane  was  a  blonde,  her  head  and  features  were 
cast  in  noble  mould,  and  her  form,  when  at  rest,  was 
replete  with  dignified  majesty,  and,  in  motion,  was  in- 
stinct alike  with  power  and  grace.  Hers  was  a  bright, 
good  face  upon  which  none  looked  with  indifference. 
Those  deep  violet  eyes,  with  the  strange  dark  line 
around  them,  could  glance  cold,  stern  rebuke  upon  the 
evil  doer,  and  they  could,  kindle,  too,  and  pour  youDg 
scorn  upon  what  was  small  and  mean.  Yet  of  all  her 
features,  her  mouth  was  the  most  peculiarly  beautiful. 
Although  in  repose  it  was  so  indicative  of  firmness,  it 
was  capable  of  expressing  infinite  humor  and  perfect 
sweetness.  Her  golden  hair  was  arranged  with  sim- 
plicity,  and  in  her  dress  she  always  avoided  superfluous 
ornament.  In  toilet,  speech,  and  manner  she  was  a 
lady. 

Miss  Lane  was  fond  of  games,  and  invariably  ex- 
celled at  all  she  ever  attempted.  Her  uncle  secretly 
prided  himself  upon  her  prowess,  and,  in  her  absence, 


542  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

frequently  spoke  of  this  success  of  hers ;  but  be  liked 
to  laugh  at  her  for  being  able  to  u  distance  every  body- 
else  in  athletic  sports/'  He  used  to  tell  about  her 
daring  some  vounsr  man  to  run  a  race  with  her,  and 
then  leaving  him  far  behind  and  out  of  breath.  Yet 
it  was  known  he  had,  upon  this  occasion,  rebuked  her 
for  want  of  that  dignity  which,  in  his  heart,  he  gladly 
owned  she  did  not  lack. 

At  Wheatland,  Miss  Lane  saw  much  company 
from  a  distance,  her  uncle  constantly  entertaining  his 
foreign  and  political  friends.  Their  conversation  and 
her  historic  reading,  directed  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  made 
her  a  most  congenial  companion  for  him. 

She  was  a  good  reader,  her  voice  sweet  and  pure, 
and  her  enunciation  clear  and  distinct.  She  was  in 
the  habit  of  reading  aloud-  the  newspapers,  and  after- 
ward discussing  with  him  the  news  and  the  political 
and  literary  subjects  of  the  day.  She  took  great  in- 
terest in  the  grounds,  and  it  was  her  taste  that  sug- 
gested many  of  the  improvements  made  at  Wheat- 
land. 

The  quiet  of  her  life  here  was  interrupted  by  gay 
visits  to  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Pittsburg,  Washing- 
ton, and  Virginia.  Wherever  she  went,  she  left  hosts 
of  friends,  and  never  came  home  without  bringing  with 
her  scores  of  masculine  hearts.  Indeed,  their  former 
owners  often  followed  them  and  the  young  lady,  in 
hopes  of  obtaining  her  hand  in  exchange.  She  re- 
mained, however,  "fancy  free,'1  until  her  heart  was 
touched  bv  the  love-tale  of  Mr.  Johnston,  whom  she 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  543 

met  at  Bedford  Springs,  during  the  annual  visit  made 
there  by  herself  and  Mr.  Buchanan. 

Mr.  Johnston  was  a  young  gentleman  of  Baltimore, 
fresh  from  college  honors,  manly,  frank,  and  kind — 
full  of  enthusiasm,  and  as  demonstrative  as  youth  and 
southern  blood  make  an  earnest  man  when  deeply  in 

love. 

Geranium  leaves  exchanged  in  those  golden  days 
of  youth — withered  surely  in  the  lapse  of  time,  and, 
one  would  fancy,  long  since  cast  aside— are  worn  by 
Miss  Lane  and  her  husband  in  memory  of  a  dawning 
affection  of  which  neither  could  have  foreseen  the  end. 

Miss  Lane's  brothers  lived  in  Lancaster.  One  of 
them  married  there.  Her  sister  Mary,  who  had  been 
married  to  Mr.  George  W.  Baker,  also  resided  in  Lan- 
caster, and  was  much  with  Harriet  until  her  removal 
to  California.  It  was  during  her  absence,  in  1S52,  that 
Mr.  Buchanan  went  as  Minister  to  Eugland,  taking 
Miss  Harriet  Lane  with  him. 

Ko  more  illustrious  man  than  James  Buchanan  had 
ever  been  sent  to  represent  his  country  a£  the  court  of 
the  greatest  empire  of  the  world.  His  fame  as  a 
statesman  had  preceded  him.  To  the  public  men  and 
educated  classes  of  England  his  name  was  familiar,  for 
he  had  been  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  the 
United  States  for  the  third  of  the  century.  No  citizen 
of  this  country  had  ever  held  so  many  great  stations 
as  he.  His  life  had  been  crowded  with  the  gravest 
public  employments.  Apart  from  his  reputation  as  a 
statesman,  hehad  won  the  highest  encomiums  at  the 


544  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

bar.  For  ten  consecutive  years  he  had  sat  in  the 
lower  house  of  Congress.  As  Minister  to  Russia,  he 
had  negotiated  our  first  commercial  treaty  with  that 
empire.  In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  he  had 
stood  for  years  in  the  foremost  rank  of  those  mighty 
men  whose  statesmanship  and  eloquence  made  that 
body,  thirty  years  ago,  the  most  dignified  assembly  on 
earth.  When  he  resigned  his  seat  as  a  Senator,  it  was 
to  become  Secretary  of  State,  and  during  that  period, 
when  he  held  that  position,  he  refused  a  seat  on  the  Su- 
preme Bench  of  the  United  States,  urged  upon  him 
by  Mr.  Tyler,  and  afterward  by  Mr.  Polk.  His  name 
had,  for  half  his  life-time,  been  associated  with  the 
Presidency.  When  he  went  to  England,  it  was  at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  Mr.  Pierce,  who  was  unwilling 
to  trust  the  settlement  of  the  great  questions  then  at 
issue  between  the  two  countries,  to  any  hands  less  able 
than  his,  and  it  was  well  believed  by  many  friends 
that,  his  work  abroad  completed,  he  would  return  to 
take  possession  of  the  Executive  Chair. 

In  the  blaze  of  this  reputation,  and  led  by  the  pro- 
tecting hand  of  one  so  illustrious,  did  Harriet  Lane 
make  her  entrance  into  English  society. 

And  now  she  became  jrublicly  identified  with  Mr. 
Buchanan.  At  dinners  and  upon  all  occasions,  she 
ranked,  not  as  a  niece,  or  even  daughter,  but  as  his 
wife.  There  was,  at  first,  some  question  on  this  point, 
but  the  Queen,  upon  whom  the  blooming  beauty  had 
made  a  deep  impression,  soon  decided  that,  and  our 
heroine  was  thenceforward  one  of  the  foremost  ladies 
in  the  diplomatic  corps  at  St.  James. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  545 

Her  first  appearance  at  a  Drawing-room  was  a 
memorable  occasion,  not  only  to  the  young  republican 
girl  herself  and  her  uncle,  but  to  all  who  witnessed 
her  graceful  and  dignified  bearing  at  the  time.  Not- 
withstanding her  youthful  appearance,  it  could  scarcely 
be  credited  that  she,  who  managed  her  train  so  beau- 
tifully, appeared  so  unconscious  of  the  attention  she 
attracted,  and  diffused  her  smiles  in  such  sweet  and 
courtly  manner,  had  never  before  been  in  the  presence 
of  royalty. 

That  night  when  she  and  Mr.  Buchanan  discussed 
the  events  of  the  day — as  they  habitually  did  before 
retiring — he  suddenly  turned  about,  saying,  "  Well,  a 
person  would  have  supposed  you  were  a  great  beauty, 
to  have  heard  the  way  you  were  talked  of  to-day.  I 
was  asked  if  we  had  many  such  handsome  ladies  in 
America.  I  answered,  '  Yes,  and  many  much  hand- 
somer. She  would  scarcely  be  remarked  there  for  her 
beauty.' " 

Upon  every  occasion  Miss  Lane  was  most  gracious- 
ly singled  out  by  the  Queen,  and  it  was  well  known 
that  she  was  not  only  an  unusual  favorite  with  her 
majesty,  but  that  she  was  regarded  with  favor  and  ad- 
miration by  all  the  royal  family.  She  was  so  immedi- 
ately and  universally  popular,  that  she  was  warmly 
welcomed  in  every  circle,  and  added  much  to  the  social 
reputation  Mr.  Buchanan's  elegant  manners  won  him 
everywhere.  At  her  home  she  was  modest  and  dis- 
creet, as  well  as  sprightly  and  genial,  and  her  country- 
men never  visited  their  great  representative  in  Eng- 

35 


5-16  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

land  without  congratulating  themselves  upon  having 
there  also  such  a  specimen  of  American  womanhood. 

The  limits  of  our  sketch  prevent  us  from  dwelling 
upon  particular  characters,  political,  noble  and  literary, 
with  whom  Miss  Lane  constantly  came  in  contact. 
Nor  have  we  time  to  mention  the  country  houses  of 
lord  and  gentry  where  Mr.  Buchanan  and  herself  were 
gladly  received.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  her  offers  of  mar- 
riage were  very  numerous,  and  such  as  would  do  honor 
to  any  lady  of  any  land — men  of  great  name,  of  high 
position  and  immense  fortune,  English  and  American. 

She  always  confided  these  affaires  du  coeur  to  her 
uncle,  who  gave  his  advice  as  freely  as  it  was  asked. 
But  he  never  attempted  to  influence  her  affections,  al- 
though one  could  not  have  blamed  him  for  wishing  her 
to  remain  as  she  was.  She  always  decided  for  her 
uncle,  and  ended  the  consideration  of  each  proposal 
by  trusting  to  the  happiness  she  had  already  tried. 

The  years  that  Miss  Lane  spent  in  England  were 
probably  the  brightest  of  her  life.  She  loved  England, 
English  people,  and  English  habits,  and  fortunate  in- 
deed it  was  for  her  that  in  the  days  of  her  early  youth, 
when  just  entering  upon  womanhood,  she  acquired  that 
taste  for  exercise,  early  hours,  wholesome  food,  and 
healthy  living,  which,  make  the  ladies  of  Great  Britain 
the  fairest  and  most  substantial  beauties  in  the  world. 

One  cf  the  incidents  of  her  stav  abroad  with  her 
uncle,  was  her  visit  with  him  to  Ostend,  at  the  time 
of  the  celebrated  conference  between  the  American 
Ministers  to  England,  France,  and  Spain.     From  here 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  547 

she  travelled  with  Mr.  Mason  and  others  to  Brussels, 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  Coblentz,  and  Frankfort  on  the  Main, 
and  thence  joined  Mr. Buchanan  and  Mr.  Soule  at  Brus- 
sels, where  the  business  of  the  Conference  was  com 
pleted. 

She  accompanied  Mr.  Mason  on  his  return  to  Paris, 
and  spent  two  months  at  his  house.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  these  were  happy  months,  for  Mr.  Mason's 
elegant  hospitality,  and  the  agreeable  manners,  and 
kind  hearts  of  wife  and  daughters,  made  his  home  a 
thronged  resort  of  all  Americans  who  visited  the  gay 
capital.  Miss  Lane's  recollections  of  that  noble  man 
are  as  warm  as  those  of  any  of  the  thousands  who  were 
familiar  with  his  virtues,  and  whose  feeling  regarding 
him  was  happily  expressed  after  his  death  in  an  obitu- 
ary written  by  a  near  friend,  who  summed  up  his 
faults  and  his  merits  in  the  title  taken  from  the  most 
genial  character  ever  drawn  by  Bulwer,  of  "  Old  gen- 
tleman Waife." 

Among  the  brilliant  circle  that  nightly  assembled 
in  the  saloons  of  Mr.  Mason,  Miss  Lane  reigned  a  pre- 
eminent belle. 

We  must  also  particularly  refer  to  the  enthusiasm 
excited  by  Miss  Lane  upon  a  memorable  occasion  in 
England.  We  mean  the  day  when  Mr.  Buchanan  and 
Mr.  Tennyson  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil 
Laws  at  the  University  of  Oxford.  Her  appearance 
was  greeted  with  loud  cheers  by  the  students,  and 
murmurs  of  admiration. 

She  returned  to  America,  leaving  Mr.  Buchanan  in 


548  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

London,  waiting  for  a  release  from  his  mission,  which 
he  had  long  urged,  but  which  the  State  Department 
at  "Washington  had  failed  to  give  him. 

During  this  separation,  her  uncle  wrote  her  long 
letters,  overflowing  with  affection  and  regret  that  he 
had  suffered  her  to  leave  him.  Indeed,  she  would 
never  have  consented  to  absent  herself  from  his  side 
for  an  hour,  had  she  not  been  expecting  a  visit  at 
Wheatland  from  her  sister,  Mrs.  Baker,  whose  sweet 
companionship  she  had  missed  in  all  her  pleasures  and 
triumphs.  It  was  soon  after  her  happy  arrival  at  dear 
old  Wheatland,  with  the  welcome  of  friends  still  in 
her  ears,  and  amid  hurried  and  loving  preparations  for 
the  reception  of  this  beautiful  and  only  sister,  that  the 
dreadful  tidings  of  her  death  on  the  distant  shores  of 
the  Pacific,  smote  on  the  sad  heart  of  Harriet.  In  the 
agony  of  her  first  great  grief,  brooding  over  the  mem- 
ory of  this  twin  soul,  often  did  she  echo  in  feeling 
those  verses  of  Tennyson : 

;'  Ah  vet,  even  yet,  if  this  might  be, 
I,  falling  on  thy  faithful  heart, 
Would,  breathing  through  thy  lips,  impart 
The  life  that  almost  dies  in  me. 

That  dies  not,  but  endures  with  pain, 
And  slowly  forms  the  firmer  mind ; 
Treasuring  the  look  it  cannot  find, 

The  words  that  are  not  heard  again." 

Under  these  sad  circumstances  Mr.  Buchanan  came 
home,  and  the  news  of  his  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency soon  afterward  reached  "Wheatland.    Miss  Lane 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  549 

heard  it,  not  -with  indifference,  but  with  less  enthusiasm 
than  she  had  shown  about  any  thing  in  which  her 
uncle  was  concerned.  She,  however,  received  .  his 
friends  with  a  grace  which,  if  sadder  than  of  old,  was 
none  the  less  interesting  ;  and  the  noble  figure  clad  in 
mourning,  and  the  modest,  tender  face  beneath  her 
dark  English  hat,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
saw  Harriet  Lane  dispensing  the  dignified  hospitalities 
of  Mr.  Buchanan's  table,  or  calmly  strolling  over  the 
lawn  during  the  summer  of  1856. 

Saddened  by  suffering,  but  sustained  by  her  warm 
affection  for  her  uncle,  she  became  the  mistress  of  the 
White  House.  Her  younger  and  favorite  brother, 
Eskridge,  accompanied  Mr.  Buchanan  and  Miss  Lane 
to  Washington,  and  after  a  few  days'  stay  there,  went 
home  to  Lancaster,  promising  his  sister,  who  was  loth 
to  bid  him  good-by,  that  he  would  return  in  about  a 
month.  But  just  a  month  from  that  parting,  the  tele- 
graph bore  to  Mr.  Buchanan  the  news  of  his  sudden 
death. 

The  President  loved  this  youth  above  all  his  neph- 
ews, and  had  meant  to  have  him  with  him  at  Wash- 
ington. This  was  a  terrible  blow  to  him,  but  in  hi3 
affliction  he  was  mindful  of  Harriet,  and  it  was  with 
the  kindest  care  he  broke  to  her  the  intelligence. 

The  sister,  again  and  so  soon  smitten,  with  a 
crushed  heart  set  out  for  the  scene  of  death,  there  to 
yearn  over  the  dear  clay  of  that  lost  brother. 

When  Miss  Lane  returned  to  her  uncle,  it  was  not 
to  parade  her  trouble,  but  quietly  and  cheerfully  to 


550  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

assist  him  in.  his  social  and  domestic  life  ;  to  keep  her 
grief  for  her  closet,  and  in  the  endurance  of  it,  to  ask 
no  help  but  God's.  Yet  all  who  saw  her,  subdued 
but  dignified,  as  she  received  familiar  friends  during 
those  first  months  in  Washington,  were  struck  with 
the  elegant  repose  of  her  manners,  her  sweet  thanks 
for  sympathy,  and  her  kind  and  gentle  interest  in 
everything  about  her. 

The  next  winter  she  went  to  no  entertainments,  but 
the  usual  dinners  and  receptions  at  home  were  not  omit- 
ted. In  her  new  high  sphere  she  was  as  much  admired 
as  she  had  always  been,  and  after  she  began  to  partici- 
pate in  the  gayeties  of  that  gayest  administration,  her 
life  was  made  up  of  a  series  of  honors  and  pleasures 
such  as  have  never  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other  young 
lady  in  the  United  States. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  New  Year's  reception,  when 
Mr.  Buchanan  stood  up  to  receive  the  ambassadors  of 
the  world's  kingdoms  and  empires,  his  great  frame,  his 
massive  head,  his  noble  countenance,  marked  and 
adorned  by  the  lines  of  thought,  but  untouched  by 
the  wrinkles  of  decay,  made  him  a  spectacle  so  vast, 
impressive,  and  majestic,  that  it  did  not  require  the 
addition  of  his  courtly  manners  to  elicit  a  thrill  of 
pride  in  the  breast  of  every  American  who  beheld 
him. 

It  would  have  been  a  trying  contrast  to  the  beauty 
and  dignity  of  any  one  to  have  stood  by  his  side  ;  yet 
it  was  difficult  for  those  who  saw  Harriet  Lane  there 
to  decide  between  the  uncle  and  the  niece — to  say 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  551 

which  looked  the  proudest  and  the  greatest — the  man 
or  the  woman,  the  earlier  or  the  later  born. 

Miss  Lane's  position  was  more  onerous,  and  more 
crowded  with  social  duties  than  that  of  any  other  per- 
son who  filled  her  place  since  the  days  of  Martha 
Washington,  because  Mr.  Buchanan  received  not 
merely  official  visits  in  the  capacity  of  President,  but 
his  wide  acquaintance  at  home  and  abroad  was  the 
cause  of  his  constantly  entertaining,  as  a  private  gen- 
tleman, foreigners  and  others,  who  came,  not  to  see 
Washington  and  the  President,  but  to  visit  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan himself. 

Jefferson  Davis,  who,  for  reasons  creditable  to  Mr. 
Buchanan's  course  at  the  outbreak  of  the  secession 
movement,  was  not  friendly  to  him,  speaking  to  Dr. 
Craven  at  Fortress  Monroe,  said :  "  The  White  House, 
under  the  administration  of  Buchanan,  approached 
more  nearly  to  my  idea  of  a  Republican  Court  than 
the  President's  house  had  ever  done  before,  since  the 
days  of  Washington."  In  this  compliment,  extorted 
by  truth,  of  course  Miss  Lane  shared. 

In  the  summer  of  IS 60,  Queen  Victoria  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  President  for  the  Prince  of  Wales 
to  extend  his  Canadian  tour  to  this  country.  Of  course, 
the  duty  of  preparing  for  the  Prince's  reception  de- 
volved upon  Miss  Lane,  and  so  admirably  did  slie  or- 
der the  Executive  household,  that  a  party  far  less  ami- 
able than  the  Prince  and  the  noble  gentlemen  who 
accompanied  him,  could  not  have  failed  to  find  their 
visit  an  agreeable  one.     Apart  from  the  personal  quali 


552  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

ties  of  this  distinguished  guest  (and  Mr.  Buchanan 
always  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  the  admirable  quali- 
ties  and  excellent  disposition  of  his  young  friend),  his 
visit  was  an  occurrence  of  memorable  interest,  being 
the  first  occasion  on  which  an  heir  apparent  to  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain  had  stood  in  the  Capital  of  her 
lost  colonies.  Especially  did  this  interest  attach,  when, 
standing  uncovered  by  the  side  of  the  President,  be- 
fore the  gateway  of  Washington's  tomb,  and  gazing 
reverently  on  the  sarcophagus  that  holds  his  ashes, 
the  great-grandson  of  George  the  Third  paid  open 
homage  to  the  memory  of  the  chief  who  rent  his  em- 
pire— when  the  last  born  king  of  William  the  Con- 
queror's blood  bowed  his  knee  before  the  dust  of  the 
greatest  rebel  of  all  time. 

The  modesty  of  the  Prince's  behavior,  and  his  per- 
fectly frank  manners  attested  the  excellence  of  the 
training  given  him  by  his  good  mother  and  his  high- 
souled,  wise,  and  pious  father.  He  entered  with  all  the 
freshness  of  youth  into  every  innocent  amusement 
planned  to  beguile  the  hours  of  his  stay. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  mention,  as  an  instance  of 
Mr.  Buchanan's  care  for  the  proprieties  of  his  station, 
that,  anxious  as  it  was  possible  for  man  to  be  to  gratify 
the  Prince,  who,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  proposed 
dancing,  approving  of  it  as  a  harmless  pastime,  and 
fond  of  it  as  a  spectacle,  he  yet  declined  to  permit  it  in 
the  White  House,  for  the  reason  that  that  building  was 
not  his  private  home,  that  it  belonged  to  the  nation, 
and  that  the  moral  sense  of  many  good  people  who 


LADIES   OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  553 

had  assisted  to  put  him  there,  would  be  shocked  by 
what  they  regarded  as  profane  gayety  in  the  saloons 
of  the  State. 

The  visit  of  the  English  party  lasted  five  days, 
and  they  separated  from  Mr.  Buchanan  and  Miss  Lane, 
leaving  behind  them  most  agreeable  recollections. 

On  the  Prince's  arrival  in  England,  the  Queen 
acknowledged  her  sense  of  the  cordiality  of  his  recep- 
tion by  the  President  in  the  following  autograph  let- 
ter, in  which  the  dignity  of  an  official  communication 
is  altogether  lost  in  the  personal  language  of  a  grate- 
ful mother  thanking  a  friend  for  kindness  done  her 
first-born  "child.  It  is  the  Queen's  English  employed 
to  express  the  sentiments  of  the  woman  : 

"  Wixdsob  Castle,  Nov.  19th,  1860. 

"  My  Good  Felexd  : — Your  letter  of  the  6th  ult. 
has  afforded  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  containing,  as  it 
does,  such  kind  expressions  with  regard  to  my  son,  and 
assuring  me  that  the  character  and  object  of  his  visit 
to  you  and  to  the  United  States  have  been  fully  ap- 
preciated, and  that  his  demeanor  and  the  feelings 
evinced  by  him,  have  secured  to  him  your  esteem  and 
the  general  good  will  of  your  countrymen. 

"  I  purposely  delayed  the  answer  to  your  letter 
until  I  should  be  able  to  couple  with  it  the  announce- 
ment of  the  Prince  of  Wales1  safe  return  to  his  home. 
Contrary  winds  and  stress  of  weather  have  much  re- 
tarded his  arrival,  but  we  have  been  fully  compensated 
for  the  anxiety  which  this  long  delay  has  naturally 


554  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

caused  us,  by  finding  him  in  such  excellent  health  and 
spirits,  and  so  delighted  with  all  he  has  seen  and  ex- 
perienced in  his  travels. 

"  He  cannot  sufficiently  praise  the  great  cordi- 
ality with  which  he  has  been  everywhere  greeted  in 
your  country,  and  the  friendly  manner  in  which  }"ou 
have  received  him  ;  and  whilst,  as  a  mother,  I  am 
gratefal  for  the  kindness  shown  him,  I  feel  impelled 
to  express  at  the  same  time,  how  deeply  I  have  been 
touched  by  the  many  demonstrations  of  affection  per- 
sonally toward  myself  which  his  presence  has  called 
forth. 

"  I  fully  reciprocate  toward  your  nation' the  feel- 
ings thus  made  apparent,  and  look  upon  them  as  form- 
ing an  important  link  to  connect  two  nations  of  kin- 
dred origin  and  character,  whose  mutual  esteem  and 
friendship  must  always  have  so  material  an  influ- 
ence upon  their  respective  development  and  pros- 
perity. 

"  The  interesting  and  touching  scene  at  the  grave 
of  General  Washington,  to  which  you  allude,  may  be 
fitly  taken  as  the  type  of  our  present  feeling,  and,  I 
trust,  of  our  future  relations. 

"  The  Prince  Consort,  who  heartily  joins  in  the 
expressions  contained  in  this  letter,  wishes  to  be  kindly 
remembered  to  you,  as  we  both  wish  to  be  to  Miss 
Lane. 

"  Believe  me  always 

u  Your  good  friend, 

"  Victoria  R" 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  555 

The  Prince  spoke  for  himself  in  the  following  note : 

"  Jaita,  March  20th,  1SG2. 

''Deae  Me.  Bucha^ax: — Permit  me  to  request 
that  you  will  accept  the  accompanying  portrait  as  a 
slight  mark  of  my  grateful  recollection  of  the  hospi- 
table reception  and  agreeable  visit  at  the  "White  House 
on  the  occasion  of  my  tour  in  the  United  States. 

"Believe  me  that  the  cordial  welcome  which  wa? 
then  vouchsafed  to  me  by  the  American  people,  and 
by  you  as  their  chief,  can  never  be  effaced  from  my 
memory. 

"I  venture  to  ask  you  at  the  same  time  to  remem- 
ber me  kindly  to  -Miss  Lane,  and 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Mr.  Buchanan, 

"  Your3,  very  truly, 

"  Albert  Edwaed." 

The  portrait  to  which  the  Prince  alludes  in  the  pre- 
ceding letter  wras  a  handsome  painting  of  himself,  done 
by  Sir  John  "Watson  Gordon,  and  sent  to  Mr.  Buchanan. 

The  Prince  also  presented  Miss  Lane  with  a  set  of 
engravings  of  the  Boyal  Family,  which  are  now  in  her 
possession.  A  newspaper  correspondent,  after  Mr. 
Lincoln's  inauguration,  wrote  that  the  appearance  of 
the  Mansion  was  very  much  changed  by  the  removal 
of  the  portraits,  which  had  been  presented  for  the 
White  House, 

Mr.  Buchanan  could  not  let  so  grave  a  charge  re- 


556  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

main  unanswered,  and  wrote  to  Lord  Lyons,  whose 
letter  is  for  the  first  time  published. 

"  Washington,  Dec.  24th,  1861. 

"  See  :  I  have  this  morning  had  the  honor  to  receive 
your  letter  of  the  19th  of  this  month,  requesting  me  to 
state  the  facts  connected  with  a  present  made  by  His 
Royal  Highness,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  to  Miss  Lane,  of 
a  set  of  engravings  representing  Her  Majesty,  the 
Queen,  and  other  members  of  the  Royal  Family. 

"  The  Prince  of  Wales  told  me,  when  His  Royal 
Highness  was  at  Washington,  that  he  had  asked  Miss 
Lane  to  accept  these  engravings — he  said  that  he  had 
not  them  with  him  there,  but  that  he  would  send 
them,  through  me,  from  Portland.  His  Royal  High- 
ness accordingly  sent  them  on  shore  immediately  after 
he  embarked  at  that  place. 

"  They  were  marked  with  Miss  Lane's  name,  in  the 
handwriting  of  General  Bruce. 

"  In  obedience  to  the  commands  I  had  received 
from  the  Prince,  I  presented  them  in  his  name,  to  Miss 
Lane.  I  had  the  honor  of  placing  them  myself  in  her 
hand. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  greatest  respect, 
Sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant  and  friend, 

"  Lyons. 

"The  Honorable 

"  James  Buchanan,  <fec,  &c,  <fcc." 

When  the  secession  movement  was  inaugurated  by 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  557 

South  Carolina,  immediately  after  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  the  position  of  Mr.  Buchanan  became  one  of 
extreme  delicacy  and  difficulty,  and  in  its  great  cares 
as  well  as  in  its  petty  social  annoyances,  Miss  Lane 
bore  a  heavy  part. 

During  those  last  months  of  his  administration, 
when  Mr.  Buchanan  was  harrassed  on  every  side,  when 
his  patriotism  was  doubted,  when  his  hands — eager  to 
hold  steady  the  reins  of  Government — were  tied  fast 
by  the  apathy  of  Congress  and  the  indifference  of  the 
Northern  people,  his  mind  was  lightened  of  much  of 
its  load  of  anxiety  by  the  consciousness  that  his  niece 
faithfully  represented  him  in  his  drawing-room,  and 
that  his  patriotism  and.  good  sense  would  never  suffer 
by  any  conversational  lapse  of  hers.  He  always  spoke 
with  warmth  and  gratitude  of  her  admirable  demeanor 
at  this  critical  time. 

And  now  we  see  Miss  Lane  once  more  at  Wheat- 
land, sharing  and  enjoying  the  dignified  retirement  of 
her  uncle. 

The  society  of  that  revered  man  who  was  prepar 
ing  for  a  better  world  and  appealing  to  a  higher  judg 
ment  than  that  of  a  selfish  faction,  the  calm  pleasures 
of  country  life,  the  continued  attentions  of  enthusiastic 
admirers,  the  many  visits  of  dear  tried  friends,  the  con- 
solations of  religion,  and  the  devotion  of  one  true  heart 
that  had  never  ceased  its  homage,  was  her  compensa- 
tion for  many  trials. 

In  1863,  Miss  Lane  was  confirmed  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  at  Oxford,  Philadelphia,  of  which  her  uncle 


558  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

was  the  rector,  by  Bishop  Stevens.  She  would  have 
joined  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  which  her  uncle 
belonged,  had  he  desired  it,  because  she  was  as  liberal  as 
he  is  known  to  have  been  in  his  religious  views,  and 
thev  never  differed  on  doctrinal  points.  But  several 
circumstances  had  made  it  convenient  for  her  to  attend 
the  Episcopal  Church  a  great  deal,  and  she  had  early 
learned  to  love  its  beautiful  prayer  book,  and  in  any 
other  church  to  miss  its  significant  forms. 

About  this  time  occurred  the  death  of  James  B. 
Lane,  leaving  Harriet  no  brother  nor  sister,  nor  indeed 
any  near  relations  except  her  two  uncles,  the  I?ev.  E. 
Y.  Buchanan,  and  the  ex-President,  to  whom  she  clung 
with  renewed  affection. 

However,  one  morning  in  January,  186G,  when  the 
evergreens  before  the  old  house  at  Wheatland  were 
burdened  with  snow,  and  the  lawn  was  white,  and  the 
spring  was  frozen,  and  icicles  hung  from  the  roof,  the 
grounds  there  were  made  gay  and  bright  by  the  assem- 
blage  of  carriages  that  brought  guests  to  see  the  mar- 
riage, by  the  Rev.  Edward  Y.  Buchanan,  of  Harriet 
Lane  and  Henry  Elliott  Johnston.  Indoors,  there  was 
nothing  in  the  glow  of  the  fire,  the  odor  of  the  flowers, 
the  gratified  appearance  of  the  host,  or  the  sunny  faces 
of  the  wedding  party,  to  indicate  the  struggle  just  fin- 
ished between  two  loves. 

Some  weeks  after  the  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johnston  went  to  Cuba,  where  they  spent  a  month  or 
two  most  delightfully.  From  there,  Mr.  Johnston  took 
his  wife  to  his  house  in  Baltimore,  which,  with  charac- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    nOUSE.  559 

teristic  taste,  thoughtful ness,  and  liberality,  he  had 
had  elegantly  and  luxuriously  fitted  up  for  the  lady  of 
his  dreams,  to  whom  he  forthwith  presented  it. 

It  would  scarcely  be  fair  to  dwell,  in  print,  upon 
the  happiness  of  this  congenial  pair,  but  it  would  be 
unpardonable  if  we  did  not  assure  the  reader,  that  Mr. 
Johnston  is  all  that  Miss  Lane's  husband  ought  to  be. 
Even  those  who  naturally  disliked  to  see  Miss  Lane 
pass  out  of  the  house  of  her  great  kinsman  into  any 
other  home,  soon  became  charmed  with  Mr.  Johnston, 
and  could  not  but  congratulate  Miss  Lane  upon  this 
choice,  made  from  many  lovers. 

Nor  can  we  consent  to  close  this  sketch  of  Mrs. 
Johnston's  life  without  attracting  attention  to  her  in  her 
last  and  most  endearing  relation.  In  her  most  glorious 
days,  she  was  never  more  beautiful  than  as  a  mother, 
and  the  matronly  grace  with  which  she  cares  for  her 
child  is  sweeter  to  her  husband  than  the  early  flush 
or  the  queenly  prime  when  he  occasionally  ventured 
on  presents  of  fruits  or  flowers. 

Would  that  we  could  now  drop  the  curtain  upon 
this  fair  domestic  scene  without  noticing  the  cloud  that 
has  darkened  the  prosperous  life  of  Mrs.  Johnston  this 
past  summer.  But  our  own  regret  for  Mr.  Buchanan 
is  yet  so  new  that  we  cannot  overlook  the  never- 
dying  grief  of  his  niece,  or  withhold  our  sympathy  for 
her  in  her  greatest  bereavement. 

Again,  she  is  at  Wheatland — now  her  own  summer 
home — mourning  for  the  good  man  gone;  but  com- 
forted by  the  thought  that,  though  in  all  his  dear  fa- 


560  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

miliar  haunts  she  will  see  hiin  nevermore,  he  is  already 
understood  and  appreciated,  and  that  history  is  even 
now  doing  him  justice.  Comforted  also  in  knowing 
that  her  husband  ministered  to  her  uncle's  dying  days, 
and  that  he  received  his  unqualified  confidence  and  af- 
fection. Comforted  also  in  the  sweet  task,  the  great 
work,  of  training  up  her  boy  to  be  worthy  the  name  of 
James  Buchanan  Johnston. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  561 


MRS.  MARY  TODD  LIXCOLX. 

It  has  ever  been  the  boast  of  Americans,  that  the 
position  of  "  President :'  has  never  been  bestowed  upon 
any  man  whose  privatelife  was  open  to  calnnmy. 

While  the  crown  heads  of  the  old  world  veil  their 
infirmities  behind  the  grandeur  of  hereditary  power 
and  wealth,  the  ruler  of  the  Republic,  holding  his 
office  by  the  will  of  the  people,  returns  it  to  their  keep- 
ing, and  becomes  after  his  retireinent,  the  untitled 
citizen.  Fortunately  for  us  as  a  nation  and  as  individu- 
als, all  who  have  served  us  have  been  above  reproach, 
have  endured  the  scrutiny  of  the  argus-eyed,  hydra- 
headed  world  and  been  dismissed  with  its  thanks  and 
praises. 

Seventeen  chief  magistrates  have  occupied  the  na- 
tions  home,  and  seventeen  times  have  they  received 
the  approval  of  their  countrymen.  All  have  had  their 
families  with  them,  and  in  all  but  a  single  instance 
have  those  families  been  the  pride  and  boast,  not  only 
of  a  particular  party,  but  of  the  people,  whose  house 
they  occupied,  and  whose  servants  they  were.  jNTever 
a  word  of  thoughtless  unkindness  or  of  merited  abuse 
extended  to  a  President's  family,  until  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
occupation  of  the  Presidential  Mansion. 

She  took  possession  of  it  at  a  time  when  all  the 
vile  influences  of  selfish  strife  and  sectional  bitterness 
were  beginning  to  develop  themselves  iuto  the  war 
36 


562  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

which  followed.  Xo  former  experience  had  been  smi« 
ilar  to  the  changing  scenes  of  the  present.  It  was  de- 
cidedly a  new  epoch  in  the  nation's  history,  and  the 
exigencies  of  the  times  demanded  prompt,  decided  ac- 
tion to  successfully  meet  the  issue  forced  upon  those 
in  public  life.  Xor  can  we  of  this  short  remove  from 
the  conflicts  then  endured,  rightly  estimate  the  char- 
y£  those  engaged.  It  has  been  an  occurrence 
of  too  recent  a  date,  and  personal  feelings  are  still  too 
strong  for  any  American  to  do  simple  justice,  without 
impressing  the  statement  made  with  some  personal 
opinions  and  decisions. 

Miss  Harri-t  Lane  retired  with  her  courtly  uncle 
to  Wheatland,  leaving  behind  a  memory  all  pleasant- 
ness, and  a  record  of  untarnished  lustre.  Her  lofty 
place  had  not  spoiled  her,  for  the  nobleness  of  her  in- 
ner life  recognized  no  superiority  of  the  external 
badges  of  greatness.  In  its 'fullest,  finest  sense,  she 
had  been  a  belle,  and  withal  a  very  beautiful  and  good 

tan.  Her  suunv  heart  reflected  its  own  brightness 
upon  all,  while  the  harmony  and  beauty  of  her  young 
life  lent  an  irresistible  charm  to  her  presence.  Open 
in  h^r  professions,  and  ingenuous  in  her  temper,  the 
frank  earnest  woman  attracted  the  admiration,  and 
won  the  regards  of  the  nation. 

To  supply  the  place  of  so  popular  a  person  was  a 
difficult  matter,  and  all  felt  that  so  charming  a  hostess 
could  not  be  found. 

She  had  been  fortunate  in  occupying  the  position 

ng  an  administration  of  peace.     Toward  the  last 

the  clouds  of  war  began  to  gather,  but  only  to  the  ob- 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  563 

servant  sentinels  of  the  nation's  welfare  was  it  percep- 
tible. In  the  drawing-room,  the  parlor,  and  the  tem- 
ples of  worship,  all  things  spoke  of  prosperity  and 
peace,  and  Miss  Lane's  successful  life  as  hostess  of  the 
White  House  drew  to  a  triumphant  close 

From  the  opposite  end  of  the  land  was  to  come  the 
next  "Lady  of  the  White  House,''  and  public  expecta- 
tion was  at  its  height  to  see  the  wife  of  the  Western 
rail-splitter.  So  exaggerated  were  the  stories  concern- 
ing the  new  President,  and  so  unfounded  were  the  tales 
of  his  former  hard  life,  although  he  had  served  in  both 
branches  of  Congress,  that  many  prepared  themselves 
for  amusement  in  anticipation  of  the  figure  she  would 
cut  in  the  position  occupied  by  her  predecessor.  The 
absolute  ignorance,  unpardonable  in  enlightened  com- 
munities, exhibited  by  man}?-  in  regard  to  the  public 
career  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  not  more  deplorable  than 
their  estimate  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  early  advantages.  She 
was  a  Kentuekiau  by  birth,  and  a  member  of  the 
good  old  Todd  family,  of  Lexington.  Her  younger 
years  were  spent  in  that  homely  town  of  beautiful  sur- 
roundings, with  an  aunt  who  reared  her,  she  bein^  an 
orphan.  Childhood  and  youth  were  passed  in  comfort 
and  comparative  luxury,  nor  did  she  ever  know  pov- 
erty ;  but  her  restless  nature  found  but  little  happiness 
in  the  society  of  her  elders,  and  she  went  when  just 
merging  into  womanhood,  to  reside  with  her  sister  in 
Springfield.  The  attractions  of  this,  then  small  place, 
was  greatly  augmented  by  the  society  of  the  young 
people,  and  Mary  Todd  passed  the  pleasantest  years 
of  her  life  in  her  sister's  western  home.     On  the  4th 


564  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  November,  1842,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  she  was 
married  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  prominent  lawyer,  of 
Illinois,  A  letter  written  the  following  May,  to  Mr. 
Speed,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  con- 
tains the  following  mention  of  his  domestic  life :  "  We 
are  not  keeping  house,v  he  says,  u  but  boarding  at  the 
Globe  Tavern,  which  is  very  well  kept  now  by  a  widow 
lady,  of  the  name  of  Beck.  Our  rooms  are  the  same 
Dr.  Wallace  occupied  there,  and  board'mg  only  costs 
four  doUars  a  week.  I  most  heartily  wish  you  and 
your  Fanny  will  not  fail  to  come.  Just  let  us  know 
...  time,  a  week  in  advance,  and  we  will  have  a  room 
prepared  for  you,  and  we  will  all  be  merry  together 
for  a  while."  The  excellent  spirits  in  which  the  hus- 
band wrote,  must  have  argued  well  for  the  happy  mar- 
ried life  they  were  leading.  Although  much  in  pub- 
lic life.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  holding  no  ofrlce  at  the  time 
of  his  marriage,  but  four  years  later,  he  was  elected  to 
Congress,  and  took  his  seat  December  6th,  1847.  Mrs. 
.In  did  not  accompany  her  husband  to  "Washing 
ton,  but  remained  at  her  home.  It  was  a  season  of 
aeral  disturbance  through  the  country,  and 
while  her  husband  attended  his  duties  at  the  Capital, 
Mrs.  Lincoln  remained  with  her  children  in  Springfield. 
In  August,  he  returned  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his 
profession,  and  to  "  devote  himself  to  them  through  a 
series  of  vears,  less  disturbed  bv  diversions  into  State 
and  Xational  politics  than  he  had  been  during  any  pre- 
vious period  of  his  business  life.  It  was  to  him  a  time 
of  rest,  of  reading,  of  social  happiness,  and  of  profes- 
sional prosperity.     He  was  already  a  father,  and  took 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    EOUSE.  565 

an  almost  unbounded  pleasure  in  his  children.  Their 
sweet  young  natures  were  to  him  a  perpetual  source 
of  delight.  He  was  never  impatient  with  their  petu- 
lance and  restlessness,  loved  always  to  be  with  them 
and  took  them  into  his  heart  with  a  fondness  which 
was  unspeakable.  It  was  a  fondness  so  tender  and 
profound  as  to  blind  him  to  their  imperfections,  and  to 
expel  from  him  every  particle  of  sternness  in  his  man- 
agement of  them." 

At  this  time,  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  the  mother  of  four 
children,  and  though  one  had  passed  on  to  the  spirit 
world,  her  home  was  one  of  happiness.  Ministered  to 
by  a  husband  who  never  knew  how  to  be  aught  but- 
kind  to  her,  and  surrounded  by  evidences  of  prosperity, 
her  lines  had  fallen  in  pleasant  places,  and  she  was  con- 
sidered by  her  friends,  a  fortunate  woman. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  hard  student  and  constant  reader, 
and  was  steadily  progressing  in  knowledge.  Thrown 
among  talented  and  educated  gentlemen,  and  possess- 
ing an  intense  desire  for  improvement,  he  had  become, 
during  the  years  of  his  married  life,  a  superior  lawyer 
and  statesman.  His  was  a  progressive  nature,  striving 
for  the  golden  truths  of  sage  experience. 

Xot  so  had  she  progressed.  Her  nature  was  con- 
tent to  remain  in  its  original  condition,  caring  only  for 
those  distinctions  which  gratify  the  vanity  and  satisfy 
the  outward  life. 

Ambitions,  vain,  and  overbearing,  she  yet  permitted 
the  priceless  moments  to  glide  into  the  past,  leaving 
her  unmindful  of  their  flight,  unregretful  of  her  loss. 

The   immeasurable  distance   between  herself  and 


5G6  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

her  husband  she  did  not  consider ;  yet  felt  the  total 
want  of  sympathy  and  congeniality  for  the  pursuit 
which  most  interested  him.  Had  she  been  a  plain, 
unpretending  wife  and  mother,  counting  her  life  com- 
plete in  adding  to  the  welfare  of  her  family,  the  world 
would  have  appreciated  the  cause  of  her  exceeding 
plainness  and  want  of  culture,  and  would  have  rever- 
enced her  good  traits,  while  excusing  her  shortcomings. 
But  Mrs.  Lincoln  wTas  not  such  an  one,  nor  can  that 
sensitiveness  be  felt,  in  making  public  her  life,  w-hich 
one  so  naturally  experiences  in  writing  of  personages 
in  private  life. 

Many  men  of  transient,  as  well  as  lasting  fame  in 
every  department  of  life,  have  been  wedded  to  women 
whose  mental  calibre  was  far  below  their  own  stand- 
ard, but  sweet  womanly  traits,  and  the  evident  desire 
to  do  good,  counterbalanced  the  want  of  attainments. 

Wives,  in  this  country  especially,  have  many  times 
paid  the  penalty  of  ignorance  for  marrying  public 
men.  To  gain  position  and  the  reflection  of  official 
dignky,  they  have  accepted  husbands  whose  means  of 
support  were  precarious,  and  in  the  end  found  only 
disappointment.  Left  behind  when  public  duties 
called  the  husband  to  the  seat  of  government,  doomed 
to  slavery  of  the  most  repulsive  kind  during  perhaps 
the  best  years  of  life,  the  wives  of  public  men  in 
modest  circumstances  are  encompassed  by  endless  pri- 
vations, and  find,  perhaps,  wdien  their  husbands  reach 
the  summit  of  fame,  they  have  not  even  tasted  its 
sweets.  Ordinary  women  sink  under  adverse  circum- 
stances, and  become  a  clog  to  lofty  aspirants.     Even 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  567 

when  a  conscientious  regard  for  duty  enables  them  to 
perform  the  unvarying  round  of  monotonous  labor 
the  result  is  none  the  less  apparent.  Frequently,  wives, 
in  such  cases,  turn  from  themselves  to  society  for  an 
undefined  something  they  cannot  express.  Gossip, 
excitement,  and  fashion  gilds  the  cup  of  disappoint- 
ment, if  it  cannot  beautify  and  refine  it.  Others,  in 
so  sad  a  state,  turn  with  a  morbid  affection  to  those 
dependent  upon  them,  and  unseMshly  devote  time, 
labor,  and  love  to  serve  others.  Though  the  motive 
is  better,  the  needs  of  a  mental  nature  are  still  unsup- 
plied,  and  thus  are  consumed  existences  bound  by  the 
limits  of  home.  Ofttimes  religion  diomifies  and  renders 
beautiful  even  such  uneventful  lives,  but  most  fre- 
quently the  worry  and  care  of  existence  steals  the 
roundness  from  the  cheek  and  the  light  from  the  once 
sparkling  eye. 

But  to  neither  class  did  Mrs.  Lincoln  belong.  The 
daughter  of  a  Congressman,  she  became  the  wife  of  a 
successful  politician,  and  had  ample  time  and  means  to 
develop  and  cultivate  herself  in  every  particular. 

Her  husband  was  fond  of  the  society  of  refined 
women,  and  would  have  gladly  assisted  and  encour- 
aged her  in  the  pursuit,  of  any  plan  either  to  benefit 
or  amuse.  Ample  time  and  means  were  placed  before 
her  for  years,  but  she  preferred  to  live  in  the  idle, 
easy  manner  of  many  of  her  acquaintances. 

Mrs.  Lincoln,  in  her  childhood,  repeatedly  asserted 
that  she  should  be  a  President's  wife.  So  profoundly 
impressed  was  she  with  this  idea,  that  she  calculated, 
as  a  girl,  the  probabilities  of  such  a  success  with  all 


5GS  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

her  male  friends.  Refusing  to  many  an  attractive, 
noble,  and  highly-gifted  statesman,  in  her  young 
days,  she  later  in  life  accepted  the  least  handsome  of 
men,  but  who  was  destined  to  be  finally,  although  there 
were  no  earthly  probabilities  of  it  then,  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  She  was  always  superstitious, 
her  enemies  assert,  from  the  fact  that  she  was  nursed 
and  reared  by  a  negress.  But  had  she  been  thor- 
oughly acquaintecUwitli  nature's  laws,  she  would  have 
had  less  fear  and  more  capacity  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  presentiments  and  warnings,  which  she 
felt  were  mysteries. 

Year  after  year  her  husband  grew  beyond  her  in 
mental  strength  and  culture ;  and  yet,  feeling  the  dis- 
tance between  them,  and  the  inferiority  of  her  own 
mind,  she  comforted  herself  with  the  assurance  that 
she  was  his  wife,  and  if  she  could  not  appreciate,  she 
could  share  his  good  fortune,  and  rule  and  be  obeyed. 
In  all  the  pictures  taken  of  her — and  I  have  carefully 
examined  many — there  is  an  entire  lack  of  spiri- 
tuality evident  in  every  one.  The  brow  and  head 
is  narrow  and  low — the  sure  indication,  wherever 
found,  of  corresponding  intellect.  In  her  physique, 
the  moral,  physical,  and  intellectual  are  proportion- 
ally develoj)ed,  and  each  and  all  on  a  very  ordin- 
ary plane.  Her  ruling  trait  is  her  ambition,  which, 
rightly  directed,  might  have  been  a  saving  power 
with  her,  but  which,  unfortunately,  was  the  means 
of  bringing  many  mistakes.  Had  she  remained  in 
comparative  retirement,  her  real  nature  would,  per« 
haps,  have  been  undiscovered ;  but,  occupying  as  she 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  5G9 

did,  the  loftiest  position  known  in  her  country,  she 
was  the  centre  of  all  eyes,  and  the  observed  of  all  ob- 
servers. That  she  failed  utterly  in  the  place  which 
she  long  aspired  to  fill,  is  due  alone  to  her  ignorance. 
That  her  name  became  a  synonym  of  reproach  and 
contempt,  is  the  result  of  two  causes — her  want 
of  self-respect  and  lack  of  a  knowledge  of  human 
nature. 

The  Republican  Convention  at  Chicago  verified  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  prophecy  of  being  the  wife  of  a  President. 
It  assembled  the  16th  of  June,  1860,  and  after  a 
close  contest  between  the  two  favorites  of  the  Repub- 
lican party — Governor  Seward  and  Mr.  Lincoln — the 
latter  was  declared  unanimously  nominated  as  a  can- 
didate for.  the  Presidency.  In  Springfield,  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln waited  in  her  own  home  for  the  result  of  her  pre- 
diction, and  when  at  noon  the  cannon  on  the  public 
square  announced  the  decision  of  the  Convention, 
breathless  with  excitement,  she  scarcely  dared  to  ask 
the  result.  Her  husband,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
moment,  did  not  forget  her,  but  putting  the  telegram 
in  his  pocket,  remarked  to  his  friends  that  "  there  was 
a  little  woman  on  Eighth  street  wTho  had  some  interest 
in  the  matter"  walked  home  to  gladden  her  heart  with 
the  good  news.  That  Friday  night  must  have  been 
the  very  happiest  of  her  life,  for  few  women  have  ever 
craved  the  position  as  she  did,  and  it  was  hers ! 
Crowds  of  citizens  and  strangers  thronged  her  home 
all  the  afternoon,  and  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
wild,  tumultuous  shouts  of  excited  men  filled  the  town 
with  a  deafening  noise.     At  night   the  Republicans 


570  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

marched  in  a  body  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  house,  and  after  a 
brief  speech,  were  invited,  as  many  as  could  get  into 
the  house,  to  enter,  "  the  crowd  responding  that  after 
the  fourth  of  March  they  would  give  him  a  larger 
house.  The  people  did  not  retire  until  a  late  hour, 
and  then  moved  off  reluctantly,  leaving  +he  excited 
household  to  their  rest." 

And  now  commenced  the  life  which  Mrs.  Lincoln 
had  so  long  anticipated,  and  if  her  husband  was  not 
elated,  she  was,  and  the  hearts  of  these  two,  so  nearly 
concerned  in  this  great  honor,  beat  from  widely  differ- 
ent emotions.  ':  He  could  put  on  none  of  the  airs  of 
eminence  ;  he  could  place  no  bars  between  himself  and 
those  who  had  honored  him.  Men  who  entered  his 
house  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  new.  dignities, 
found  him  the  same  honest,  affectionate,  true-hearted 
and  simple-minded  Abraham  Lincoln  that  he  had 
always  been.  He  answered  his  own  bell,  accompanied 
his  visitors  to  the  door  when  they  retired,  and  felt  all 
that  interfered  with  his  old  homely  and  hearty  habits  of 
hospitality  as  a  burden, — almost  an  impertinence.1'  She, 
annoyed  by  the  crowds  who  thronged  the  house,  and 
the  constant  interruptions,  found  it  so  intolerable  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  took  a  room  in  the  State  House,  and  met 
his  friends  there  until  his  departure  for  Washington. 

Just  after  the  election  a  circumstance  occurred 
which  Mrs.  Lincoln  interpreted  in  a  manner  which 
forced  one  to  recall  the  predictions  of  her  childhood. 
Mr.  Lincoln  thus  repeated  it.  "  It  was  after  my  election 
wrhen  the  news  had  been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all 
day,  and  there  had  been  a  great  'hurrah,  boys!    so 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE.  571 

that  I  was  well  tired  out  and  went  Home  to  rest, 
throwing  myself  upon  a  lounge  in  my  chamber.     Op- 
posite to  where  I  lay,  was  a  bureau  with  a  swinging 
glass  upon  it ;  and  looking  in  that  glass,  I  saw  myself 
reflected  nearly  at  full  length  ;  but  my  face,  I  noticed, 
had  two  separate  and  distinct  images,  the  tip  of  the 
nose  of  one  being  about  three  iuches  from  the  tip  of 
the  other.     I  was  a  little  bothered,  perhaps  startled, 
and  got  up  and  looked  in  the  glass,  but  the  illusion 
vanished.     On  lying  down  again,  I  saw  it  a  second 
time,  plainer,  if  possible,  than  before;    and    then   I 
noticed  that  one  of  the  faces  was  a  little  paler,  say  five 
shades,  than  the  other.     I  got  up  and  the  thing  melted 
away  and  I  went  off,  and  in  the  excitement  of  the 
hour  forgot  all  about  it,— nearly,  but  not  quite,  for 
the  thing  would  once  in  a  while  come  up,  and  give  me 
a  little  pang,  as  though  something  uncomfortable  had 
happened.     When  I  went  home,  I  told  my  wife  about 
it,  and  a  few  days  after  I  tried  the  experiment  again, 
when,  sure  enough,  the  thing  came  back  again ;  but  I 
never  succeeded  in  bringing  the  ghost  back  after  that, 
though  I  once  tried  very  industriously  to  show  it  to 
my  wife,  who  was  worried  about  it  somewhat.     She 
thouo-ht  it  was  'a  siern'  that  I  was  to  be  elected  to  a 
second  term  of  office,  and  that  the  paleness  of  one  .of  ^ 
the  faces  was  an  omen  that  I  should  not  see  life  through 
the  second  term.1' 

Mr.  Lincoln  regarded  the  vision  as  an  optical  illu- 
sion, caused  from  nervousness,  "yet,  with  that  tinge  of 
superstition  which  clings  to  every  sensitive  and  deeply 
thoughtful  man,  in  a  world  full  of  mysteries,  he  was 


572  LADIES    OF    ME    WHITE    HOUSE. 

so  far  affected  by  it  as  to  feel  that  '  something  uncom- 
fortable had  happened.'"  Viewed  in  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent events,  Mrs.  Lincoln's  prophetic  interpretation 
of  the  vision  had  almost  a  startling  import. 

"Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  three  boys  were  in  the  car  as 
it  rolled  out  of  Springfield ;  and  with  them  a  number 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  friends.  On  arriving  at  Indiana- 
polis, the  party  found  the  city  entirely  devoted  for  the 
time  to  the  pleasant  task  of  giving  their  elected  Chief 
Magistrate  a  fitting  reception.  Business  was  suspended, 
flags  were  floating  everywhere,  and  when,  at  five 
o'clock,  the  train  rolled  into  the  Union  Depot,  a  salute 
of  thirty-four  guns  announced  them  and  gave  them 
greeting." 

The  next  day  the  party  started  by  a  special 
train  for  Cincinnati.  An  immense  crowd  cheered  them 
as  they  moved  off.  The  train  was  composed  of  four 
passenger  cars,  the  third  and  fourth  of  which  were 
occupied  by  the  Cincinnati  committee  of  reception. 
The  train  passed  by  the  burial-place  of  General  Harri- 
son, who  had  for  a  short  month  occupied  the  presi- 
dential chair,  and  here  the  family  of  the  deceased 
patriot  were  assembled.  Mr.  Lincoln  bowed  his  respects 
to  the  group  and  to  the  memory  of  his  predecessor. 

The  morning  of  the  fourth  of  March,  1861,  broke 
beautifully  clear,  and  it  found  General  Scott  and  the 
Washington  police  in  readiness  for  the  day.  The 
friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  gathered  in  from  far  and 
near,  determined  that  he  should  be  inaugurated.  In  the 
hearts  of  the  surging  crowds  there  was  anxiety ;  but 
outside  all  looked  as  usual  on  such  occasions,  with  the 


LADLES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE.  573 

single  exception  of  ah  extraordinary  display  of  soldiers. 
The  public  building,  the  schools  and  most  of  the 
places  of  business  were  closed  during  the  day,  and  the 
stars  and  stripes  were  floating  from  every  flag-staff 
There  was  a  great  desire  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln  s  inaugu- 
ral; and  at  an  early  hour,  Pennsylvania  Avenue  was 
fall  of  people,  wending  their  way  to  the  east  front  ox 
the  capitol,  from  which  it  was  to  be  delivered. 

At  five  minutes  before  twelve  o'clock,  ^  ice-Presi- 
dent Breckinridge  and   Senator  Foote  escorted  Mr. 
Hamlin     the    vice-President   elect,   into    the   Senate- 
Chamber,  and  gave  him  a  seat  at  the  left  of  the  chair; 
At  twelve,  Mr.  Breckinridge  announced  the  Senate 
adjourned,  and  then  conducted  Mr.  Hamlin  to  the  seat 
lie  had  vacated.     At  this  moment,  the  foreign  diplo- 
mats, of  whom  there  was  a  very  large  and  brilliant 
representation,   entered   the    chamber,   and  took  the 
seats  assigned  to   them.      At   a   quarter   before  one 
o'clock    the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  entered, 
with  the  venerable  Chief-Justice  Taney  at  their  head, 
each  exchanging  salutes  with  the  new  Vice-President, 
as  they  took  their  seats.    At  a  quarter  past  one  o'clock, 
an  unusual  stir  and  excitement  announced  the  coming 
of  the  most  important  personage  of  the  occasion.     It 
was  a  relief  to  many  to  know  that  he  was  safely  within 
the  building;  and  those  who  were  assembled  in  the 
hail   regarded  with  the  profoundest  interest  the  en- 
trance of  President  Buchanan  and  the  President  elect 
—the  outgoing  and  the  incoming  man.     A  procession 
was  then  formed  which  passed  to  the  platform  erected 
tor  the  ceremonies  oi  the  occasion,  in  the  following 


574  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

order :  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Courts  aud  Sergeant-at-arms,  Senate 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  President  of  the  Senate, 
Senators,  Diplomatic  Corps,  heads  of  departments, 
Governor?  of  States  and  such  others  as  were  in  the 
chamber. 

After  the  reading  of  the  inaugural  and  the  oath 
of  office,  administered,  by  the  venerable  Chief- 
ice  Taney.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escorted  back  to  the 
AVhite  House,  where  Mr.  Buchanan  took  leave  of  him, 
and  where  he  received  the  large  number  of  persons 
who  called  to  see  him. 

During  the  afternoon,  Mrs.  Lincoln  took  possession 
of  the  White  House,  and  her  eventful  life  commenced 
in  Washington. 

The  following  days  were  spent  with  her  sisters  in 
happy  bustle  and  excitement,  arranging  for  the  first 
levee,  and  domesticating  themselves  in  their  new  abode. 

It  was  held  the  9th  of  March,  and  was  tne  only 
one  of  the  season.  Her  personal  appearance  was  de- 
scribed in  these  words : 

"  Mrs.  Lincoln  stood  a  few  paces  from  her  husband, 
•  i  red  by  her  sisters,  Mrs.  Edwards  and  Mrs.  Baker, 
together  with  two  of  her  nieces,  and  'was  attired  in  a 
rich  pink  moire-antique,  pearl  ornaments,  and  flowers 
in  her  hair  and  hands.  She  is  a  pleasant  looking,  ele- 
gant appearing  lady,  of  perhaps  forty,  somewhat  in- 
clined to  stoutness,  but  withal  fine  looking  and  self- 
possessed."'  The  levee  was  a  brilliant  one,  and  many 
citizens  and  strangers  not  accustomed  to  taking  part 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  575 

in  the  gay  world  about  them,  did  themselves  the 
pleasure  of  paying  their  respects  to  the  new  President 
and  his  family.  It  was  perhaps  the  happiest  evening 
of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  life — a  triumph  she  had  often  mused 
upon  and  looked  forward  to  as  in  store  for  her.  The 
desire  of  her  heart  was  gratified,  and  she  was  mistress 
of  the  AVhite  House.  Surrounded  by  her  children, 
sustained  by  her  friends,  and  with  her  husband  accept- 
ing the  congratulations  of  the  people,  she  certainly  to 
all  appearances  was  a  fortunate  woman.  But  she  was 
not  satisfied  !  Knowing  the  opinion  many  had  ex- 
pressed of  her  inability  to  maintain  the  dignity  of 
her  coveted  position,  she  permitted  her  mind  to  dwell 
upon  their  possible  criticisms.  The  cloud  that  rested 
over  her  present  enjoyment  rankled  in  her  heart  until 
it  stole  from  her  face  its  pleasantness,  and  from  her 
voice  its  gladness. 

Ladies  who  saw  her  for  the  first  time  congratulated 
each  other  that  she  had  been  misrepresented,  and,  save 
a  superabundance  of  natural  ornaments  on  her  hair, 
she  was  richly  and  tastefully  attired,  and  was  certainly 
dignified  and  elegant.  Thus  she  appeared  to  all  who 
saw  her,  and  had  she  followed  up  the  good  impression 
she  that  evening  made,  her  life  would  be  brighter  now. 
Discreet  reserve  in  a  woman,  like  the  distance  kept 
by  royal  personages,  contributes  to  maintain  proper 
reverence  ;  but  fimiliarity,  especially  in  a  woman  of 
high  position,  tends  to  sink  her  lower  than  those  be- 
neath her. 

Had  Mrs.  Liucoln  regarded  the  old  heathen  maxim, 
"Reverence  thyself; ''  had  she,  conscious  of  her  nobi1 


57G  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ity  as  a  true  woman,  surrounded  herself  witn  a  dig 
nitv  befitting  not  only  her  momentary  elevation,  but 
her  position  as  such,  the  throng  who  now  call  her  name 
in  contempt,  would  have  proudly  awarded  her  the 
acme  of  praise.  It  has  been  justly  observed,  that  un- 
less Ave  respect  ourselves,  no  one  will  do  it  for  us,  and 
the  trite  phrase  holds  as  good  in  one  as  another  condi- 
tion in  life :  the  wife  of  the  humble  artisan  as  much 
as  the  heiress  in  her  mansion  or  the  queen  upon  her 
throne. 

A  woman  attains  .the  honors  of  political  positions 
only  through  her  husband,  and  retains  them  entirely 
by  her  own  conduct.  The  freedom  of  Republican  in- 
stitutions is  such  that  a  man  may  by  force  of  talents 
place  himself  in  the  presidential  chair,  but  they  are 
not  such  that  his  wife  may  with  impunity  degrade  her- 
self. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  was  at  the  watering-places  during  the 
summer  months  of  1861,  and  after  a  prolonged  trip 
returned  to  the  White  House  in  Xcvember.  While 
she  was  enjoying  her  new  dignity,  in  receiving  the 
ries  and  adulations  of  every  body  who  chose  to 
best  jw  them,  her  husband  toiled  and  struggled  with 
the  manifold  duties  of  his  office.  If  he  grew  sadly 
weary  and  dispirited,  or  if  the  cares  were  too  great  for 
his  brain  to  endure,  she,  all  unmindful  of  his  spiritual 
needs  or  temporal  comforts,  found  congenial  society  at 
Saratoga  and  Lono:  Branch. 

Immediately  after  her  return  to  the  White  House, 
she  resumed  the  gayeties  she  had  indulged  in  else- 
where, and  received  publicly  every  nis;ht  of  each  week. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  577 

Circumstances  which  so  often  deprive  individuals 
of  freedom  of  action,  never  exerted  such  an  influence 
over  Mrs.  Lincoln's  life.  Hers  was  an  ever-fortunate 
existence,  which  knew  no  blight  her  own  wilfulness  did 
not  invite,  nor  feel  any  sorrow  not  induced  by  her  want 
of  common  sense.  As  I  have  remarked,  the  causa 
caumns  of  all  her  conduct  was  ignorance.  It  was  in- 
directly  at  the  root  of  every  error  which  mortified  her 
friends  and  astonished  strangers.  For  instance,  the 
following  incident  is  an  example  of  her  utter  want  of 
force  and  judgment,  to  say  nothing  of  refinement. 

An  editor  of  a  prominent  paper,  who  happened  to 
be  a  lady,  visited  Washington  on  business  for  her  pa- 
per. 'Mrs.  Lincoln  had  heard  of  her  in  connection 
with  this  paper,  and  sent  Chevalier  Wikoff  to 
request  a  visit,  at  the  same  time  placing  her  carnage 
at  her  command.  The  lady  in  question  accepted  the 
invitation,  appointed  an  hour,  and  with  a  friend  visited 
the  White  House.  It  happened  to  be  reception-night, 
and  Mrs.  Lincoln  soon  made  her  appearance  in  the 
Blue-room  attired  in  full-dress.  The  enterprising  edi- 
tor, after  the  usual  salutations,  inquired  after  the  wel- 
fare of  the  troops  in  Washington,  the  hospitals,  and 
news  from  the  front,  hoping  to  interest  her  hostess,  as 
well  as  to  gain  information  ;  but,  unselfish  as  were  her 
motives,  she  failed  utterly.  The  adjustment  of  hand- 
kerchief, gloves,  and  bracelets,  was  of  infinitely  more 
importance,  and  the  evident  desire  to  impress  the  visi- 
tor with  the  personnel  of  so  great  an  individual,  was 
too  apparent  to  be  mistaken.  Foiled  in  every  effort 
to  sustain  a  conversation,  the  lady  began  to  flatter  her 


578  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

hostess,  and  to  admire  the  extreme  good  taste  and  ele- 
gance of  her  toilet.  She  wore  a  pink  moire-antique 
dress,  very  low  in  the  neck,  and  short  in  the  sleeve, 
richly  trimmed  with  lace ;  upon  her  neck  and  in  her 
ears  hung  diamonds,  and  on  her  hands  were  the  same 
glittering  jewels  worn  over  her  gloves.  Purple  gloves 
stitched  in  crimson,  together  with  yellow  roses  in  her 
hair,  completed  her  attire,  which  in  point  of  expense 
was  certainly  considerable.  After  vainly  trying  to 
understand  why  she  was  invited  to  a  special  audience 
an  hour  before  the  regular  reception,  the  editor  retired 
abashed  and  dismayed  with  the  conduct  of  the  Presi- 
dent's wife.  Instances  were  not  rare  of  her  flagrant 
violations  of  etiquette,  not  to  say  good  breeding,  and 
her  incapacity  to  sustain  the  dignity  of  her  station  was 
a  subject  of  sorrow  and  mortification  to  the  friends  of 
her  husband. 

The  mere  accident  of  position,  while  it  has  its  pres- 
ent weight  and  influence,  cannot,  apart  from  personal 
worth,  exert  any  claim  over  individuals.  When  the 
pomp  and  vain-glorying  of  the  moment  is  past,  and 
reason  asserts  her  sway,  then  merit,  and  not  place,  is 
appreciated  and  rewarded. 

Mrs.  Lincoln's  paramount  idea  in  her  new  home 
was  to  economize,  and  with  that  sentiment  uppermost 
in  her  mind  determined  to  do  away  with  the  pleasant 
time-honored  custom  of  giving  "  State  dinners."  In 
their  place  she  substituted  "  receptions,"  which  were 
held  unceasingly  during  the  winter  of  ";Gl-62."  The 
death  of  her  favorite  son  threw  a  gloom  over  the 
stately  mansion,  and  for  a  time  dispelled  all  attempts 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  579 

at  gayety.  The  summer  passed  quietly  away,  aud  iu 
early  September  Mrs.  Lincoln  visited  Xew  York  and 
Boston,  and  returned  after  an  interval  to  resume  the 
quiet  life  congenial  to  one  bowed  with  sorrow.  Two 
years  of  mourning  outwardly,  and  perhaps  a  lifetime 
of  inward  grief,  succeeded  Willie's  death,  and  tlie 
mother,  faithful  to  the  memory  of  her  lost  child, 
crossed  never  again  the  Guests'  Room  in  which  he  died, 
or  the  Green  Room  where  his  body  had  lain. 

In  1864,  the  receptions  were  renewed,  and  the  old 
habitues  of  the  White  House  flocked  in  numbers  to  a 
pleasure  from  which  they  had  so  long  been  debarred. 
Excitement  and  happiness  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
guests,  while  anxiety  and  care  depressed  the  feelings  of 
host  and  hostess.  "War,  relentless  and  insatiate,  stalk- 
ed abroad  in  the  land,  and  the  weaiy  cry  of  a  down- 
trodden people  echoed  in  the  night- winds  as  they  swept 
past  the  nation's  home. 

The  reelection  of  President  Lincoln  was  the  topic 
of  conversation  throughout  the  Xorth  a  year  prior  to 
the  time  appointed  for  the  final  decision.  His  success 
and  subsequent  events  need  not  be  reiterated;  they  are 
known  to  the  world  and  regretted  by  every  lover  of 
peace  and  order. 

After  the  death  of  the  President,  Mrs.  Lincoln  re- 
mained five  weeks  in  the  "White  House,  during  which 
time  she  incurred  the  odium  that  now  rests  upon  her. 
Illness,  it  was  said,  detained  her  after  the  remains  of 
her  husband  had  been  borne  back  to  his  old  home,  and 
perhaps  to  this  cause  may  be  attributed  the  condition 
of  the  house  after  her  departure.     Sufficient  is  it  to 


5S0  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

know  that  during  this  time  it  was  plundered  of  all  the 
ornaments,  many  of  the  heavy  articles  of  furniture,  and 
all  of  the  smaller  pieces  of  silver  and  dining-ware. 
Curtains  were  demolished,  sofas  cut  and  injured,  while 
the  entire  building  was  left  unswept  and  uncleaned, 
reeking  in  the  accumulated  filth  of  many  weeks  of  con- 
stant hard  usage.  Whether  the  President's  wife  was 
to  blame  for  this  state  of  affairs,  or  whether  she  was 
responsible  for  the  many  articles  of  public  property 
taken  then,  none  can  positively  assert. 

The  regulations  of  the  establishment  were  not  vig- 
orous,  and  had  not  been  complied  with  at  any  time  of 
her  stay.  As  a  matter  of  economy,  she  dismissed 
the  steward  who  had  been  there  with  President  Bu- 
chanan, and  who  had  control  of  the  public  property, 
and  undertook  to  attend  to  this  matter  herself.  This 
she  had  no  time  to  do,  and  hence,  to  the  tender 
mercy  of  numerous  servants  was  left  the  care  of  the 
household. 

All  was  in  confusion  during  this  season  of  packing 
— dependants,  expecting  to  leave,  idly  sauntered  about 
the  building,  working  when  they  chose.  Officials  unde- 
cided how  to  act  under  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, but  hoping  it  would  soon  end,  waited  while 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  all  unmindful,  remained  closely  in  her 
own  apartments,  seeing  no  one  but  the  servants,  and 
sen  dins;  such  amounts  of  baar^acce  that  the  commission 
of  buildings  hoped  each  day  to  be  notified  of  the  final 
departure. 

But  if  this  state  of  affairs  annoyed  some,  it  was 
highly  gratifying  to  the  rabble  who  wandered  at  will 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  581 

through  the  unkernined  mansion,  and  lounged  in  secu- 
rity on  the  sofas  and  divans  of  the  East  Room. 

To  the  fact  that  no  one  felt  justified  in  taking 
charge  of  the  house  while  Mrs.  Lincoln  remained,  may 
be  attributed  its  deplorable  condition.  Many  things 
may  be  accounted  for,  and  some  grave  charges  cleared 
away,  when  this  fact  is  remembered ;  but  the  subject 
is  distasteful,  the  thoughts  suggested  are  humiliating 
to  our  pride,  and  we  are  glad  to  turn  from  the  theme, 
glad  that  the  task,  though  imperfectly  performed,  is 
well-nigh  completed. 

In  January,  1869,  Mrs.  Lincoln  wrote  the  following 
letter  to  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  ask- 
ing for  a  pension,  and  the  "Washington  papers  of  the 
following  day  contained  the  following. 

The  President  of  the  Senate  yesterday  presented  to 
that  body  the  following  petition  from  Mrs.  Lincoln. 

To  the  Honorable  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States. 

Sir  :  I  herewith  most  respectfully  present  to  the 
Honorable  Senate  of  the  United  States,  an  application 
for  a  pension.  I  am  a  widow  of  a  President  of  the 
United  States,  whose  life  was  sacrificed  in  his  country's 
service.  That  sad  calamity  has  veiy  greatly  impaired 
my  health,  and  by  the  advice  of  my  physicians  I  have 
come  over  to  Germany  to  try  the  mineral  waters,  and 
during  the  winter  to  go  to  Italy.  But  my  financial 
means  do  not  permit  me  to  take  advantage  of  the  urg- 
ent advice  given  me,  nor  can  I  live  in  a  style  becom- 
ing the  widow  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  nation. 


582  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 

although  I  live  as  economically  as  I  can.  In  consider- 
ation of  the  great  services  my  deeply  lamented  hus- 
band has  rendered  to  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
fearful  loss  I  have  sustained  by  his  untimely  death, 
his  martyrdom,  I  may  say — I  respectfully  submit  to 
your  honorable  body  this  petition.  Hoping  that  a 
yearly  pension  may  be  granted  me,  so  that  I  may  have 
less  pecuniary  care,  I  remain  most  respectfully, 

Mrs.  A.  Lincoln. 
Frankfort,  Germany. 

The  bill  was  introduced  by  Senator  Morton,  of 
Indiana,  and  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Pen- 
sions. Mr.  Van  Winkle,  the  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, made  a  report  in  which  the  committee  said,'  in 
substance,  they  were  unable  to  perceive  that  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln, as  the  widow  of  the  late  President,  or  in  any 
other  character,  was  entitled  to  a  pension  under  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  any  existing  law. 

"The  committee  are  aware  the  friends  of  the  reso- 
lution expect  to  make  a  permanent  pro  vision  for  the 
lady  under  the  guise  of  a  pension ;  but  no  evidence 
has  been  furnished  to  them,  or  reasons  assigned  why 
such  provision  should  be  made.  If  such  was  the  in- 
tention, the  committee  submit,  the  reference  should 
have  been  made  to  some  other  committee,  as  the  com- 
mittee on  pensions,  at  least  for  some  years  past,  have 
not  thought  it  compatible  with  their  duty  or  the  ob- 
jects of  their  appointment  to  recommend  in  any  case 
the  granting  of  any  special  pension,  or  any  pension  of 
a  greater  amount  than  is  allowed  by  some  general  law. 


LADIES  OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  5S3 

If  they  thought  the  amount  so  allowed  too  small,  they 
would  feel  it  incumbent  on  them  to  report  a  general 
bill  for  like  relief  in  all  similar  cases.  If  the  increase 
proposed  was  on  account  of  extraordinary  military  or 
naval  services,  the  proper  reference  would  be  to  the 
military  or  naval  committee.  Under  all  these  circum- 
stances, the  committee  have  no  alternative  but  to  re- 
port against  the  passage  of  the  general  resolutions." 


584  LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE   HOUSE. 


MRS.  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

In  the  autumn  of  1824,  the  term  of  a  fatherless 
boy's  apprenticeship  expired,  and  he  entered  the  world 
rich  only  in  energy,  and  a  noble  ambition  to  provide 
for  a  widowed  mother.  Bat  he  was  sensitive  and 
anxious  to  enlarge  his  facilities  for  an  education,  and 
his  strong  mind  grasped  and  analyzed  the  fact  that  to 
succeed  he  must  form  new  ties,  and  find  a  broader  field 
of  action.  Tennessee  was  the  land  of  promise  which 
attracted  his  attention,  and,  accompanied  by  his  mother, 
who  justly  deserved  the  affection  he  bestowed  irpon 
her,  he  reached  Greenville  in  1826. 

Young,  csphing,  and  ambitious,  he  was  not  long  in 
mating  friends,  and  among  them  a  beautiful  girl 
evinced  her  appreciation  of  his  character,  by  becoming 
his  wife.  Eliza  McCardle  was  the  only  daughter  of 
a  widow,  whose  father  had  been  dead  many  years,  and 
wdiose  life  had  been  spent  in  her  mountain  home. 
"When  she  was  married,  she  had  just  reached  her  seven- 
teenth year,  and  her  husband  was  not  yet  twenty-one. 

Education  in  those  days  did  not  comprehend  and 
embrace  the  scientific  accomplishments  it  does  now,  but 
a  naturally  gifted  mind,  endowed  with  much  common 
sense,  received  a  broad  basis  for  future  development 
She  was  well  versed  in  the  usual  branches  of  instruc- 
tion, and  possessed,  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  that 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  5S5 

beauty  of  face  and  form  which  rendered  her  mother 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  women. 

It  is  a  mistaken  idea  that  she  taught  her  husband 
his  letters  ;  for  in  the  dim  shadows  of  the  workshop  at 
Raleigh,  after  the  toil  of  the  day  was  complete,  he  had 
mastered  the  alphabet  and  made  himself  generally  ac- 
quainted with  the  construction  of  words  aud  sentences. 
The  incentive  to  acquire  mental  attainment  was  cer- 
tainly enhanced  when  he  felt  the  superiority  of  her  ac- 
quirements, and  from  that  time  his  heroic  nature  began 
to  discover  itself.  In  the  silent  watches  of  the  night, 
while  sleep  rested  upon  the  village,  the  youthful  couple 
studied  together  ;  she  ofttimes  reading  as  he  completed 
the  weary  task  before  him,  oftener  still  bending  over 
him  to  guide  his  hand  in  writimr. 

He  never  had  the  benefit  of  one  day's  school  rou- 
tine in  his  life,  yet  he  acquired  by  perseverance  the 
benefits  denied  by  poverty.  What  a  contemplation  it 
must  have  been  to  those  mothers  who  watched  over 
their  children*as  they  struggled  together!  Let  time 
in  its  flight  transport  us  back  thirty  years,  and  see  what 
a  scene  was  b-jing  then  enacted  there.  In  that  obscure 
village  in  the  mountains,  three  strong,  yet  tender- 
hearted women  watched  over  and  cherished  the  bud- 
ding genius  of  the  future  statesman.  History,  in  pre- 
serving it?  record  of  the  life  and  services  of  the  seven- 
teenth  President  of  the  United  States,  rears  to  them 
a  noble  tribute  of  their  faithfulness. 

Thirty  years  ago,  the  young  wife,  thrifty  and  indus- 
trious all  day,  worked  patiently  and  hopefully  as  night 
brought  her  pupil  again  to  his  studies,  and  punctually 


586  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

completed  her  womanly  duties,  that  she  might  be 
ready  for  the  never-varying  rule  of  their  lives.  Much 
of  latent  powers  does  he  owe  to  her  indefatigable  zeal 
and  encouragement,  and  he  cannot  forget  those  evening 
hours,  years  ago,  when  the  mighty  scintillations  of  na- 
tural genius  first  began  to  dawn,  which  ultimately  con- 
verted the  tailor  boy  into  the  Senator,  and  subsequently 
into  the  President  of  his  country. 

Year  after  year  she  has  watched  him,  as  he  has 
risen  step  by  step,  and  is  with  him  now,  willing  and 
earnest  as  when  in  life's  bright  morn  they  were  mar- 
ried. 

The  later  years  of  Mrs.  Johnson's  life  have  been 
crowned  with  the  honors  her  husband's  successes  have 
won,  but  her  younger  days  are  fraught  with  most  in- 
terest to  all  who  can  appreciate  true  worth  and  genuine 
greatness  of  soul. 

In  her  girlhood,  she  was  the  purest  type  of  a  south- 
ern beauty,  and  like  her  mother,  was  very  graceful  and 
agreeable  in  her  manners.  I  have  heard  persons  say 
her  mother  was  the  handsomest  lady  in  all  that  region 
of  country,  and  her  old  neighbors  stoutiv  maintain 
that  Mrs.  Johnson  is  the  image  of  her  Her  extreme 
modesty  denies  the  imputation  that  she  was  the  belle 
of  the  county. 

While  their  means  increased  as  time  passed,  and  the 
caroling  of  their  little  children  gladdened  their  home, 
Mr.  Johnson  received  his  first  substantial  proof  of  the 
confidence  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  in  his 
election  as  "alderman."  How  intense  must  have  been 
the  joy  of  the  good  wife  as  she  saw  her  pupil  progress- 
ing in  a  career  he  was  so  well  fitted  to  occupy ! 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  5S7 

At  this  time,  their  residence  was  situated  on  a  hill, 
just  out  of  Greenville,  simple  and  plain  in  its  surround- 
ings, yet  the  resort  of  the  young  people  of  the  village. 
The  college  boys,  as  they  passed  to  and  fro  on  errands, 
always  stopped  to  enjoy  a  chat  with  their  "  Demosthe- 
nes," and  were  ever  welcomed  by  the  genial,  frank 
manners  of  the  gentle  wife. 

Fresh  laurels  crowned  the  alderman's  brow  when 
he  was  chosen  Mayor,  and  for  three  terms  he  filled  the 
position  with  credit,  winning  for  himself  an  enviable 
reputation  for  honest  deeds  and  correct  principles. 

Little  has  been  written  of  Mrs.  Johnson,  mainly 
from  the  fact  that  she  always  opposed  any  publicity 
being  given  to  her  private  life,  and  from  the  reluctance 
of  her  friends  to  pain  her  by  acceding  to  the  oft-re- 
peated requests  of  persons  for  sketches  of  herself.  In 
a  conversation  not  long  since,  with  her,  she  remarked 
"  that  her  life  had  been  spent  at  home,  caring  for  her 
children,  and  practising  the  economy  rendered  neces- 
sary by  her  husband's  small  fortune." 

An  impartial  writer  cannot  be  swayed  by  such  na- 
tural and  creditable  sentiments,  nor  is  it  just  that  a 
woman  who  has  been  the  means  of  advancing  her  hus- 
band's  interests  so  materially,  and  occupying  the  posi- 
tion she  does,  should  be  silently  passed  by.  She  de 
serves,  as  she  receives,  from  ail  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  know  her,  the  highest  encomiums  ;  for  by  her 
unwearying  efforts  she  has  been  a  stepping-stone  to  her 
husband's  honors.  Patient  and  forbearing,  she  is  uni- 
versally liked,  and  if  she  has  an  enemy,  it  is  from  no 
fault  of  hers,  nor  does  she  number  any  among  the  ac- 
quaintances of  a  lifetime. 


588  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Like  Mr.  Johnson,  she  has  very  few  living  rela- 
tives; her  children  having  neither  aunts  nor  uncles, 
and  years  ago  deprived  of  both  grandmothers.  Mrs. 
Johnson's  mother  died  in  April,  1854,  and  his  parent 
lived  until  February,  1856 ;  each  having  been  the  ob- 
ject of  his  tenderest  care,  and  living  to  see  him  hold- 
ing the  highest  position  his  native  State  could  bestow. 
There  was  not  two  years'  difference  in  the  deaths  of 
these  two  mothers,  and  it  is  the  unspeakable  happiness 
of  their  children  to  know  that  as  the  wick  burned  low, 
and  the  lamp  of  time  went  out,  all  that  peace  and 
plenty  could  devise  for  their  happiness  they  received, 
and  their  departure  from  earth  was  rendered  calmly 
serene  by  the  assurance  that  their  work  was  well  done 
and  finished. 

When  the  civil  war,  which  snapped  the  cords  of  so 
many  old  persons1  lives  and  hurried  them  to  premature 
graves,  sounded  its  dread  tocsin  through  East  Tennes- 
see, it  was  a  source  of  mournful  satisfaction  to  know 
that  those  two  aged  mothers  lay  unconscious  of  the  ap- 
proaching conflict  which  was  to  bathe  that  section  of 
the  State  in  blood.  The  tall  grass  grew  unharmed, 
and  no  impious  hand  desecrated  the  resting  place  of  de- 
parted, virtue. 

During  the  meetings  of  the  Legislature  to  which 
Mr.  Johnson  was  repeatedly  called,  Mrs.  Johnson  re- 
mained at  Greenville  ;  and  while  he  sought  honors  and 
support  away  from  home,  she  found  compensation  for 
his  prolonged  absence  in  the  knowledge  that  she  best 
promoted  his  interest  when  she  lived  within  their  still 
slender  in?ans.     Her  children  received  the  benefit  of 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  589 

her  ripe,  matured  experience,  until  one  by  one  they 
left  their  home ;  two  to  marry  and  dwell  near  her,  and 
the  youngest  to  be  a  comfort  in  her  days  of  suffering. 
Her  home  in  Greenville  was  thus  described  in  1SG5: 
a  Just  down  there,  at  the  base  of  this  hill,  stands  a 
small  brick  building  with  a  back  porch,  and  around  it 
the  necessary  fixtures.  It  stands  on  the  corner  of  the 
square,  near  where  the  mill-race  passes  under  the  street 
on  its  way  down  to  the  little  mill.  That  is  the  first 
house  Andrew  Johnson  ever  owned.  It  now  belongs 
to  another  person.  Almost  directly  opposite  the 
mill,  whose  large  wheel  is  still  moving,  but  whose 
motion  is  scarcely  perceptible,  you  will  see  a  rather 
humble,  old-fashioned  looking,  two-story  brick  house, 
standing  near  the  south  end  of  Main  street.  It  has 
but  one  entrance  from  the  street.  In  front  of  it  stand 
three  or  four  small  shade-trees.  The  fences  of  the  lot 
and  windows  of  the  house  show  evident  signs  of  dilapi- 
dation, the  consequences  of  rebellion  and  of  rebel  rule. 
Like  many  other  windows  in  the  South,  a  number  of 
panes  of  glass  are  broken  out  and  their  places  supplied 
with  paper.  Glass  could  not  be  obtained  in  the  Con 
federacy.  As  you  pass  along  the  pavement  on  Main 
street,  by  looking  into  the  lot  you  will  see  several 
young  apple-trees,  and  in  the  spaces  between  two  of 
them  are  potatoes  growing.  In  the  rear  of  the  kitch- 
en stands  a  small  aspen  shade-tree,  and  down  there  in 
the  lower  end  of  the  lot  is  a  grape-vine  trained  upon 
a  trellis,  forming  a  pleasant  bower.  Scattered  over  the 
lot  are  a  number  of  rose,  currant,  and  gooseberry 
bushes.     At  the  lower  end  of  the  lot,  and  just  outside, 


590  LADIES    Ox    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

stand  two  large  weepiDg  willows,  and  under  their 
shade  is  a  very  beautiful  spring.  This  is  the  residence 
of  Andrew  Johnson.  President  of  the  United  States 
Up  the  street  stands  his  former  tailor  shop,  with  the 
old  sign  still  on  it.  And  in  an  old  store-room  np  the 
street  are  the  remains  of  his  library.  At  present,  it  con- 
principally  of  law  books  and  public  documents, 
most  of  his  valuable  books  having  been  destroyed  by 
the  rebel  soldiers." 

In  the  spring  of  ■•  '61."  Mrs.  Johnson  S]  ;nt  two 
months  in  Washington  with  her  husband,  then  a  Senator, 
but  failing  health  compelled  her  early  return  to  Ten- 
nessee. Long  and  stormy  were  the  seasons  which  passed 
before  she  again  met  Mr.  Johnson,  and  how  changed 
were  all  things  when  thev  resumed  the  broken  thread 
of  separation,  after  an  interval  of  nearly  two  years ! 

At  her  home  quietly  attending  to  the  duties  of  life, 
and  cheered  by  the  frequent  visits  of  her  children,  she 
was  startled  one  bright  morning  bv  the  following  sum- 
mons : 

"  Headqeabtees  Depaetmest  or  East  Tr:r:  :--ii.  I 
nun  Psotobx  Vt.RSTT^T.,  April  24th,  1863.      | 

•;  Miss.  Axdeew  Jonxsox,  Greenville, 

••Dear  Madam: — By  Major-General  E.  Kir  by 
Smith  I  am  directed  to  respectfully  require  that  you 
and  your  family  pass  beyond  the  Confederate  States' 
line  (through  Nashville,  if  you  please)  in  thirty-six 
hour3  from  this  date. 

••  Pass]    rta  will  be  granted  you  at  this  office. 
••  Very  res]  Uy, 

••  W.   M.  Cnuncnwn:.. 

••  Colonel  and  Provost  Marshal." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  391 

This  was  an  impossibility,  both  on  account  of  her 
very  poor  health,  and  the  unsettled  state  of  her  affairs. 
Nor  did  she  know  where  to  go ;  rumors  reached  her 
of  the  murder  of  Mr.  Johnson  in  Kentucky,  and  again 
at  Nashville ;  then  again  she  would  hear  that  he  had 
not  left  Washington.  She  knew  not  what  to  do,  and 
accordingly  wrote  to  the  authorities  for  more  time  to 
decide  on  some  definite  plan. 

The  military  movements  delayed  the  execution  of 
the  next  order  sent  her,  and  the  continued  illness  of 
Mrs.  Johnson  distressed  her  children,  who  knew  that 
a  change  of  residence  would  sooner  or  later  become 
necessary.  All  the  summer  she  remained  in  Greenville, 
occasionallv  visiting  her  daughters,  and  hoping  daily  to 
hear  of  her  husband.  September  came,  and  knowing 
she  would  be  compelled  to  leave  East  Tennessee,  she 
applied  to  the  authorities  for  permission  to  cross  the 
lines,  accompanied  by  her  children  and  her  son-in-law, 
Mr.  Stover. 

Finally,  after  numerous  endeavors,  the  cavalcade  set 
out.  A  few  miles  out  from  town  they  were  overtaken 
by  an  order  to  return. 

Reaching  Murfreesboro,  exhausted  and  weary  from 
the  long  trip,  the  little  band  were  told  they  could  not 
o-o  through  the  lines.  The  Confederate  troops  occu- 
pied this  once  beautiful  town,  and  no  accommo- 
dations were  to  be  obtained.  Wandering  from  one 
house  to  another  after  the  long  walk  from  the  depot, 
in  the  nidit-tirne,  without  food  or  shelter,  Mrs.  Johnson 
and  her  children  despaired  of  seeming  any  more  invit- 
ing abode  than  the  depot,  and  that  was  a  long  di» 


592  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

tance  from  the  centre  of  the  town.  As  a  last  resort,  a 
woman  was  requested  to  share  her  home  with  the  tired 
refugees,  and  she  consented  with  the  understanding 
that  in  the  morning  they  would  depart.  Next  day 
they  returned  to  Tullahoma,  but  on  arriving  there  re- 
ceived a  telegram  to  retrace  their  steps,  as  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  their  passage  through  to  Nashville. 

A  former  friend  of  the  family  obtained  this  favor 
for  them,  and,  nothing  daunted,  nio;ht  a^ain  found  the 
same  band  at  Murfreesboro. 

No  effort  was  made  to  secure  lodgings,  all  preferring 
to  stay  on  the  cars,  rather  than  undertake  the  expe- 
riences of  the  previous  night. 

The  eating-house  near  by  was  vacant,  and  into  this 
Colonel  Stover  conducted  the  tired  part)*.  Without 
fire  or  food,  or  any  hind  of  beds  or  seats,  they  determined 
to  stay  as  best  they  could ;  and  but  for  the  thought- 
ful, motherly  care  of  Mrs.  Johnson,  it  would  have  been 
a  night  of  horrors.  She  had  provided  herself  with 
candles  and  matches  before  starting,  and  the  remnants 
of  an  old  lunch  satisfied  the  hunger  of  the  little  ones, 
and  rendered  less  cheerless  their  lonely  abode. 

Thus,  from  one  trouble  to  another,  subject  to  the 
commands  of  military  rulers,  liable  to  be  arrested  for 
the  slightest  offence,  and  ofttimes  insulted  by  the  rab- 
ble, Mrs.  Johnson  and  her  children  performed  the 
perilous  journey  from  Greenville  to  Nashville.  Few 
who  were  not  actual  participators  in  the  civil  war  can 
form  an  estimate  of  the  trials  of  this  noble  woman. 
Invalid  as  she  was,  she  yet  endured  exposure  and  anx- 
iety, and  passed  through  the  extended  lines  of  hostile 


LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  598 

armies,  never  uttering  a  hasty  word  or  by  her  looks  be- 
traying in  the  least  degree  her  harrowed  feelings. 
Wherever  she  passed,  she  won  kind  words  and  hearty 
prayers  for  a  safe  journey,  and  is  remembered  by  friend 
and  foe  as  a  lady  of  benign  countenance  and  sweet, 
winning  manners. 

The  following  day  Mrs.  Johnson  received  the  fol 
lowing  note : 

" Muefeeesboko,  Octoher  12th,  1862. 

"  Mes.  Andrew  Johnson  :  Gen'l  Forrest  sends  a 
flag  of  truce  to  Nashville  to-morrow  morning,  and  he 
wishes  you  and  your  party  to  make  your  arrangements 
to  go  down  with  the  flag,  at  seven  o'clock  a.m.  to- 
morrow. 

"  The  General  regrets  that  he  has  no  transportation 
for  you ;  he  will  send  a  two-horse  wragon  to  carry  your 
baggage,  &c.  By  remaining  until  to-morrow,  you  can 
go  the  direct  route  to  Nashville ;  by  going  previous  to 
that  time,  the  route  would  be  necessarily  circuitous. 
"  Respectfully, 

"Isham  G.  Harris." 

A  diary  kept  by  a  citizen  of  Nashville  at  this  time, 
contains  the  following : 

"  Quite  a  sensation  has  been  produced  by  the 
arrival  in  Nashville  of  Governor  Johnson's  family,  after 
incurring  and  escaping  numerous  perils  while  making 
their  exodus  from  East  Tennessee.  The  male  members 
of  the  family  w7ere  in  danger  of  being  hung  on  more 
than  one  occasion.  They  left  Bristol,  in  the  extreme 
38 


594-  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

northeastern  section  of  the  State,  on  the  Virginia  line, 
by  permission  of  the  Eebel  War  Department,  accom- 
panied by  a  small  escort.  Wherever  it  became  known  on 
the  railroad  route  that  Andrew  Johnson's  family  were 
on  the  train,  the  impertinent  curiosity  of  some  rebels 
was  only  equalled  by  the  clamor  of  others  for  some 
physical  demonstration  on  Johnson's  sons.  Arriving 
Turfreesboro,  they  were  met  by  General  Forrest 
and  his  force.  Forrest  refused  to  allow  them  to  pro- 
ceed, and  they  were  detained  some  time,  until  Isham 
G.  Harris  and  Andrew  Ewing,  noted  rebels,  telegraphed 
to  Richmond  and  obtained  peremptory  orders  allowing 
them  to  proceed.  The  great  joy  at  the  reunion  of  this 
long  and  sorrowfully  separated  family  may  be  imagin- 
ed. I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  it.  Even  the  Gov- 
ernor's Roman  firmness  was  overcome,  and  he  wept  tears 
of  thankfulness  at  this  merciful  deliverance  of  his  be- 
loved ones  from  the  hands  of  their  unpitying  per- 
secutors.'' 

Xashville  and  comparative  quiet  were  at  last  reach- 
ed, and  the  long  separated  family  hoped  their  trials 
were  over.  Mrs.  Johnson  had  exhausted  her  strength, 
and  for  many  months  kept  her  room,  too  feeble  to  ven- 
ture out.  But  her  little  grandchildren  enjoyed  the 
freedom  of  play  once  more,  and  their  happy  faces  are 
remembered  by  strangers  and  friends  who  watched 
them  in  their  gambols  about  the  capital.  But  all  missed 
the  pleasant  companionship  of  their  little  cousins,  and 
longed  to  have  "  Belle  "  and  "  Andrew,"  to  share  their 
sports. 

By-and-by  Mm  Patterson  joined  the  family  in  the 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  595 

safe  asylum  they  had  found  in  Nashville,  and  young 
and  old  were  nappy  in  the  reunion.  But  trouble,  never 
far  from  Mrs.  Johnson,  came  very  near  in  the  cruel 
death  of  her  eldest  son.  Not  long  after  receiving  his 
diploma  as  physician,  he  was  appointed  a  surgeon  in 
the  First  Tennessee  Infantry. 

One  bright  spring  morning,  he  started  on  his 
rounds  of  professional  duty.  In  the  exuberance  of 
health,  youth,  and  spirits,  he  sprang  upon  the  horse  of 
a  brother  officer.  He  had  gone  but  a  short  distance, 
when  the  high-mettled  creature  reared  upon  its  hind 
feet  suddenly;  the  young  man  was  thrown  backward, 
and  falling  upon  the  frozen  earth,  was  instantly  killed. 
The  concussion  fractured  his  skull.  Mrs.  Johnson  has 
grieved  for  this  son  as  did  Jacob  for  his  beloved  Joseph, 
and  not  only  the  mother,  but  the  whole  family  have 
mourned  with  unusual  poignancy  his  untimely  death. 
Any  mention  of  *  Charlies  :'  name  brings  to  their  eyes 
the'  hot  tears,  and  a  sadness  hard  to  dispel,  gathers 
about  their  lips,  when  some  familiar  object  recalls  then 
loved  and  early  lost  one. 

The  Convention,  in  1S64,  nominated  Andrew  John- 
son, then  Military  Governor,  for  the  Vice  Presidency, 
on  the  ticket  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  March,  1865.  Mr. 
Johnson  left  his  family  in  Xashville  and  went  on  to 
Wa-hino-ton.  It  was  their  intention  to  vacate  the 
house  then  occupied  by  their  family  and  remove  to 
their  home  in  Greenville,  but  the  events  of  the  coming- 
month  caused  them  to  form  other  plans.  President 
Lincoln  was  assassinated  the  14th  of  April,  and  the 
Vice  President  was  immediatelv  sworn  into  office.     A 


596  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

telegraphic  notice  in  the  Nashville  papers  the  next 
morning  contained  the  following  : 

"  The  Vice  President  has  already  assumed  the  au- 
thority which  the  Constitution  devolves  upon  lihn,  and 
we  feel  doubly  assured  that  he  will  so  conduct  himself 
in  his  high  office  as  to  merit  the  affection  and  applause 
of  his  countrymen."  As  this  was  the  first  murder  of 
a  ruler  in  the  experience  of  the  Kepublic,  it  will  ever 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  America, 
and,  involving  as  it  did  the  result  of  "civil  war,  will 
live  a  silent  monitor  to  all  democratic  countries.  Had 
the  conspiracy,  which  had  been  carefully  planned,  been 
successfully  executed,  the  Government  would  have 
been  paralyzed.  Even  as  it  was,  and  there  was  but 
one  death,  when  many  others  were  meditated,  the  shock 
was  terrible  and  lasting.  It  was  a  humiliating  calam- 
ity  to  our  free  government,  and  a  source  of  national 
sorrow  and  mortification.  Men  and  women,  reared  to 
idealize  rather  than  ponder  on  the  principles  of  the 
system  under  which  they  had  lived ;  educated  to  give  a 
ready  assent  to  the  hero  worship  of  the  signers  of 
the  Declaration,  and  voluntary  adoration  to  the  First 
General  of  our  army,  and  the  first  President,  rudely 
awakened  from  their  dream  of  a  perfect  Government, 
became  discouraged  and  dismayed  at  the  unexpected, 
never  to  be  thought  of,  murder  of  a  President.  It 
may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  few  facts  in  connection  with 
this  unhappy  affair,  relative  to  the  husband  of  Mrs. 
Johnson,  which,  affecting  her  interests  materially,  are 
not  out  of  place  in  this  brief  sketch  of  her  life. 

After  her   arrival  in  Washington,   a  beautifully 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  597 

bound  album,  containing  the  letters  of  the  Wisconsin 
State  Historical  Society,  to  Senator  Doolittle,  and  the 
replies  of  himself,  and  Ex-Governor  Farwell,  was  pre- 
sented to  her.  The  letters  were  inscribed  by  an  ex 
pert  penman,  and  are  prized  by  the  family  as  a  truth 
ful  account  of  their  father's  narrow  escape  from  death 
together  with  the  main  incidents  of  the  assassination 
conspiracy. 

The  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  through  Hon. 
L.  C.  Draper,  its  Secretary,  wrote  to  Senator  J.  R 
Doolittle  for  a  full  account  of  the  circumstances;  to 
which  he  replied,  that  "  by  the  sagacity,  presence  of 
mind,  courage,  and  devotion  of  Governor  Farwell,  our 
own  distinguished  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Johnson,  was  ap- 
prized of  his  danger,  and  his  life  secured,  if  not  abso- 
lutely saved  from  destruction;"  "and  it  is  a  matter 
of  congratulation  to  ourselves  and  our  State  that  a 
former  Governor  of  Wisconsin  was  successfully  efficient 
in  secnrino-  the  life  of  the  nation's  Chief  Magistrate." 

Governor  Farwell's  letter,  in  reply  to  the  request 
of  the  Society,  through  Senator  Doolittle,  is  perhaps 
the  most  authentic  statement  ever  made  in  regard  to 
the  unfortunate  affair,  and  we  give  it  in  full : 

"Washington,  February  8,  1866. 

"  Ho^".  James  R.  Doolittle,  United  States  Senate. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  favor  of  the  2 2d 
ult.,  requesting,  on  behalf  of  the  Wisconsin  State  His 
torical  Society,  a  statement  of  my  connection  with  the 
occurrences  that  took  place  in  this  city  on  the  night 
of  the   assassination   of  President  Lincoln.     It  is  a 


598  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

mournful  task  to  recall  the  terrible  scenes  that  I  then 
witnessed.  Yet  in  order  that  the  expressed  wishes  of 
that  Society,  of  which  from  the  time  of  its  formation 
I  have  been  a  member,  and  in  which  I  have  always 
taken  a  deep  interest,  may  be  gratified,  and  a  truthful 
account  of  those  events,  so  far  as  I  witnessed  them, 
may  find  its  way  into  history,  I  comply  with  the  request. 

"  At  the  time  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lin- 
coln, I  was  boarding  at  the  Kirkwood  House,  mv  fam- 
ily  being  then  in  "Wisconsin.  The  Vice  President  had 
rooms,  and  was  boarding  at  the  same  place,  and  I  there 
came  to  know  him,  and  occasionally  passed  an  evening 
in  his  room. 

"  Early  in  the  evening  of  April  14th,  1865,  I  called 
to  see  Mr.  J.  B.  Crosby,  of  Massachusetts,  and  found 
that  he  had  but  a  short  time  to  stay,  and  was  very  de- 
sirous of  seems;  the  President  before  his  return.  Hav- 
ing  noticed  in  the  papers  a  statement  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  expected  to  be  present  at  Ford's  Theatre  on  that 
evening,  to  witness  the  play  entitled  '  Our  American 
Cousin,'  we  concluded  to  go  thither  for  the  express 
purpose  of  seeing  him.  This  we  did,  and  procured 
seats,  having  the  President's  box  in  full  view  on  our 
right.  When  the  fatal  shot  was  fired,  we  involunta- 
rily turned  our  eyes  to  the  box  from  w7hich  the  sound 
proceeded,  and  at  the  same  instant  the  horrible  vision 
of  J.  WTilkes  Booth  flashed  upon  my  eyes,  brandishing 
a  knife,  and  jumping  from  the  President's  box,  repeat- 
ing the  words,  '  Sic  Semper  Tyrannis.'  I  had  scarcely 
seen  and  heard  him  before  he  had  vanished  from  the 
stage.     As  the  President  fell,  and  the  cry  ran  through 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  595 

the  Louse  that  he  was  assassinated,  it  flashed  across  rnj 
mind  that  there  was  a  conspiracy  being  consummated 
to  take  the  lives  of  the  leading  officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  would  include  that  of  Mr.  Johnson.  The 
cause  of  this  suspicion  and  of  my  alarm  for  the  safety 
of  Mr.  Johnson  was,  probably,  the  fact  of  my  having 
read  in  some  newspaper  the  article  copied  from  the 
Selma  (Ala.)  Despatch,  being  an  offer  by  some  fiendish 
rebel  to  aid  in  contributina:  a  million  of  dollars  for 
procuring  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  Johnson,  and 
Seward.  While  some  seemed  paralyzed  by  the  bold- 
ness of  the  deed,  and  others  intent  upon  knowing  how 
seriously  the  President  was  injured,  I  rushed  from  the 
theatre  and  ran  with  all  possible  speed  to  the  Kirk 
wood  House,  to  apprise  Mr,  Johnson  of  the  impending 
danger,  impelled  by  a  fear  that  it  might  even  then  be 
too  late.  Passing  Mr.  Spencer,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the 
hotel,  who  was  standing  just  outside  the  door,  I  said 
to  him,  '  Place  a  guard  at  the  door,  President  Lincoln 
is  murdered ; '  and  to  Mr.  Jones,  another  clerk,  who 
was  at  the  office  desk  as  I  hurried  by — '  Guard  the 
stairway  and  Governor  Johnson's  room,  Mr.  Lincoln 
is  assassinated ;'  and  then  darting  up  to  Mr.  Johnson's 
room,  No.  68,  I  knocked,  but  hearing  no  movement,  I 
knocked  again,  and  called  out  with  the  loudest  voice 
that  I  could  command,  '  Governor  Johnson,  if  you  are 
in  this  room  I  must  see  you.'  In  a  moment  I  heard 
him  spring  from  his  bed,  and  exclaim,  'Farwell,  is 
that  you  ? '  l  Yes,  let  me  in,'  I  replied.  The  door 
opened,  I  passed  in,  locked  it,  and  told  him  the  terri- 
ble news,  which  for  a  time  overwhelmed  us  both,  and 


600  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

grasping  Lands,  we  fell  upon  each  other  as  if  for 
mutual  support.  But  it  was  only  for  a  moment 
While  every  sound  suggested  the  stealthy  tread  of  a 
conspirator,  and  every  corner  of  the  chamber  a  lurking- 
place,  }et  Mr.  Johnson,  without  expressing  any  appre- 
hension for  his  own  safety,  and  with  that  promptness 
and  energy  which  has  always  characterized  him,  at 
once  deliberated  upon  the  proper  course  to  meet  the 
emergency.  But  {he  moment  of  danger  had  passed. 
The  officers  of  the  hotel,  as  requested  by  me,  had  sta- 
tioned guards,  who  in  a  short  time  were  released  by 
Secretary  Stanton.  Soon  many  personal  friends  of 
Mr.  Johnson  arrived,  anxiously  inquiring  for  his  safety. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  news  of  the  murderous  assault 
upon  Secretary  Seward  and  his  son  Frederick  had 
reached  us,  and  justified  our  fears  as  to  the  general 
purpose  of  the  conspirators.  Mr.  Johnson  was  desir- 
ous of  knowing  the  real  condition  of  the  President 
and  Mr.  Seward,  and  requested  me  to  go  and  see  them 
personally,  and  not  to  credit  any  story  or  rumor  that 
might  be  flying  about  the  city.  This  was  no  easy  task. 
Distrust  and  horror  seemed  to  fill  every  mind.  The 
very  atmosphere-  was  burdened  with  stories  of  dark 
conspiracies  and  bloody  deeds.  Thousands  of  ex- 
cited citizens,  soldiers,  and  guards,  blocked  up  every 
avenue  leading  to  Mr.  Peterson's  house,  No.  453  Tenth 
Street,  to  which  the  President  had  been  carried,  and 
in  which  he  was  dying.  None  but  prominent  citizens, 
either  known  to  the  officers  of  the  guard,  or  who  could 
be  generally  vouched  for,  were  allowed  to  pass,  and  it 
was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  I  succeeded  in 


LADIES    0?    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  601 

Working  niv  way  through  the   crowd  and  past  the 
cniards'to  the  house,  and  then  into  the  room  in  which 
the  President  had  been  placed.      The  news  was  all 
too  true.     There  he  lay,  evidently  in  the  agonies   of 
death,  his  medical  attendants  doing  all  that  human 
zeal  or  skill  could  devise,  and  many  of  his  friends  had 
gathered  about  him,    some  in  tears.      Turning  away 
from  this  sad  sight,  I  worked  my  way  to  the  house  of 
Secretary  Seward,  and  there,  too,  I  found  that  the  vil- 
lains had  done  their  work.     I  then  returned  and  re- 
ported to  Mr.  Johnson  the  disastrous  doings  of  the 
conspirators.     In  a  short  time  Mr.  Johnson  resolved  to 
see   the  President  himself.     His   friends  thought  he 
ouo-ht  not  to  leave  the  house  when  there  was  so  much 
excitement   in  the  city,  and  when  the  extent  of  the 
conspiracy  was  unknown.     President  Lincoln  had  just 
been  shot  in  the  presence  of  a  crowded  assembly,  and 
his  assassin  had  escaped.     Secretary  Seward  had  been 
stabbed  in  his  chamber,  and  the  minion  had  fled.     But 
he  determined  to  go.     Major  James  K.  O'Beirne,  com 
manding  the  Provost  Guard,  desired  to  send  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  with  him,  but  he  declined  the  offer, 
and,  buttoning  up  his  coat,  and  pulling  his  hat  well 
down,  he  requested  me  to  accompany  him  and   the 
Major  to  lead  the  way,  and  thus  we  went  through  the 
multitude  that  crowded  the  streets  and  filled  the  pas- 
sage-way, till  we  joined  the  sad  circle  of  friends  who 
were  grouped  around  the  bedside  of  the  dying  Presi- 
dent. ~  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  any  thing  more  to  this 
account  of  my  connection  with  an  event  which  forms, 
with  the  rebellion  plot,  the  darkest  chapter  in  our 
country's  history. 


C02  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

"  If  it  is  true,  as  regarded  by  many,  that  the  life 
of  President  Johnson  was  saved  by  the  timely  arrival 
of  citizens  at  the  Kirkwood,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives, 
then  sneh  risk  was  properly,  and  so  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, joyfully  incurred,  and  this  statement  may  be 
worth v  of  preservation.  Trusting  that  this  may  meet 
the  wishes  of  the  Society  as  expressed  through  you, 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
'■'Respectfully, 


'•  Your  obedient  servant 


L.  J.  Faeweee." 


The  "Washington  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Re- 
publican thus  speaks  of  Mrs.  Johnson : 

"Mrs.  Johnson,  a  confirmed  invalid,  has  never  ap- 
peared in  society  in  Washington-.  Her  very  existence 
is  a  myth  to  almost  every  one.  She  was  last  seen  at  a 
party  given  to  her  grandchildren.  She  was  seated  in 
one  of  the  Republican  Court  chairs,  a  dainty  affair  of 
satin  and  ebony.  She  did  not  rise  when  the  children 
or  old  guests  were  presented  to  her ;  she  simply  said, 
'  My  dears,  I  am  an  invalid/  and  her  sad,  pale  face  and 
sunken  eyes  fully  proved  the  expression.  Mrs.  Johnson 
looks  somewhat  older  than  the  President,  and  her  age 
does  exceed  his  by  a  few  swings  of  the  scythe  of  time. 
She  is  an  invalid  now,  but  an  observer  would  say, 
contemplating  her,  '  A  noble  woman — God's  best  gift 
to  man.'  Perhaps  it  is  well  to  call  to  mind  at  this  time 
that  it  was  this  woman  who  taught  the  President  to 
read,  after  she  became  his  wife,  and  that  in  all  their 
earlier  years  she  was  his  counsellor,  assistant,  and  guide. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  603 

None  but  a  wise  and  good  mother  could  have  reared 
such  daughters  as  Mrs.  Patterson  and  Mrs.  Stover. 
When  Mrs.  Senator  Patterson  found  herself  '  the  first 
lady  in  the  land,'  she  made  this  remark,  wdiich  has 
been  the  key-note  of  the  feminine  department  of  the 
White  House  from  that  day  to  the  present  time :  '  Wo 
are  plain  people,  from  the  mountains  of  Tennessee, 
called  here  for  a  short  time  by  a  national  calamity. 
I  trust  too  much  will  not  be  expected  of  us.'  When 
Anna  Surratt  threw  herself  prostrate  upon  the  floor  of 
one  of  the  ante-rooms  of  the  White  House,  beo-cnno:  to 

>  Bo        B 

see  Mrs.  Patterson,  she  said :  '  Tell  the  girl  she  has  my 
sympathy,  my  tears,  but  I  have  no  more  right  to  speak 
than  the  servants  of  the  White  House.'  When  the 
'pardon  brokers'  trailed  their  slimy  lengths  every- 
where about  the  Mansion,  they  never  dared  to  cross  a 
certain  enchanted  pathway;  and  the  face  of  any 
lobbyist  set  in  this  direction  has  always  brought  up 
in  the  end  against  a  stone  wall." 

Mrs.  Johnson  shared  as  little  as  possible  in  the 
honors  accorded  her  family,  as  well  after  as  during 
their  stay  in  the  White  House,  and  gladly  turned  her 
face  homeward,  to  find  rest  and  repose  so  necessary  to 
her  feeble  condition. 

Once  more  quietly  established  at  home,  she  antici- 
pated renewed  happiness  in  the  presence  of  her  re- 
united family,  and  reasonably  hoped  to  have  much 
happiness  in  the  future. 

Death  hovered  near  her  when  least  expected,  and 
one  night,  as  the  servant  entered  the  room  of  her  son 
(Col.  Robert  Johnson),  he  was  discovered  in  a  dying 


604  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

condition,  and  in  an  unconscious  state  passed  from 
earth.  From  a  tear-stained  letter,  we  gather  these 
sad  particulars.  "He  was  well  and  on  the  street  at 
five  o'clock,  and  at  dusk,  as  the  servant  went  as  usual, 
to  light  his  lamp,  she  discovered  that  he  was  in  a  deep 
sleep.  He  was  never  aroused  from  it.  All  the  physi- 
cians of  the  village  were  immediately  called  in,  but 
alas  !  too  late  to  do  any  good.  He  breathed  his  last 
at  half-past  eleven  that  night,  without  a  single  groan 
or  struggle. 

"  I  do  not  suppose  he  ever  made  an  enemy  in  his  life. 
He  was  certainly  the  most  popular  boy  ever  raised  in 
this  part  of  the  country,  and  continued  so  after  he 
became  a  man.  Oh,  if  he  could  only  have  spoken  one 
word  to  us  !  but  he  passed  into  the  tomb,  unconscious 
of  all  around  him.  He  was  buried  with  Masonic 
honors,  and  the  largest  funeral  ever  before  seen  in  this 
village  accompanied  his  remains  to  the  grave." 

After  seven  years  of  wanderings  he  was  permitted 
to  accompany  his  parents  to  their  home,  and  die  sur- 
rounded by  the  friends  of  his  youth.  Thus  in  the 
prime  and  vigor  of  manhood,  he  has  descended  to  the 
tomb,  regretted  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  deeply 
lamented  by  his  mother,  who  has  in  a  few  short  years 
lost  two  grown  sons.  But  one  is  left  to  her,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  brother's  death  (which  occurred  on  the 
22nd  of  April),  was  at  school  in  Georgetown.  Three 
children  are  spared  to  cheer  her  saddened  age,  and 
sustain  her  in  her  deep  grief. 

Tennessee  is  proud  to  have  her  children  return  tc 
their  home  in  the  midst  of  her  grand  old  mountain 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  605 

scenery,  and  Tennesseeans  delight  to  honor  and  accord 
praise  to  Mrs.  Johnson  and  her  daughters,  who,  through 
so  many  difficulties,  and  the  most  stormy  period  of  the 
country's  experience,  so  conducted  themselves  as  to 
compel  the  fiercest  opponents  of  the  Administration  to 
acknowledge  their  superior  merits.  To  the  family  of 
President  Johnson  Americans  point  with  just  pride, 
and  their  native  State  responds  to  the  harmonious 
voice  of  the  country. 


606  LADIES    OF   THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 


MARTHA  PATTERSON. 

The  resemblance  to  her  father  is  a  marked  attribute 
of  Mrs.  Patterson's  face ;  a  reproduction,  though  mould- 
ed in  a  softer  cast,  of  his  distinct  and  regular  features 
and  expressive  eyes.  She  possesses  his  executive  ability, 
his  comprehensiveness,  and  many  of  his  characteristic 
peculiarities.  Her  countenauce  denotes  strength,  and 
the  organs  of  the  head  indicate  a  harmonious  and 
perfect  blending  with  the  finer  sentiments  of  the 
heart. 

Eyes  large  and  full  discover  her  power  of  language, 
and  the  development  of  form,  color,  size,  and  weight, 
attest  her  ability  to  judge  correctly  and  estimate  pro- 
portions unerringly.  Viewed  from  a  phrenological 
stand-point,  hers  is  a  remarkable  organism.  The  head 
is  symmetrical,  tending  upward  from  the  brow,  indi- 
cating spirituality,  and  gently  sloping  to  the  ears  and 
neck,  embracing  in  its  outlines  the  faculties  of  firmness, 
generosity,  and  benevolence. 

Kever  led  off  by  persuasion  from  what  her  judg- 
ment decides  correct,  she  rarely  makes  a  mistake  in  re- 
gard to  persons  or  places,  and  is  the  firm  advocate  of 
those  less  fortunate  than  herself.  Like  her  heart,  her 
mouth  is  large,  the  lips  partaking  more  of  the  intellec- 
tual than  of  the  sensual.  The  length,  prominence,  and 
compression  of  the  upper  lip,  bespeaks  the  firmness  and 
strength  of  character  which  stamps  her,  wherever  she 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  607 

goes,  a  woman  of  rare  powers.  Adapting  herself  to 
circumstances,  she  quickly  masters  any  situation  in 
which  she  is  placed,  and  controls  rather  than  follows  the 
will  of  others.  The  intellectual  lobe  is  large,  the  per- 
ceptive and  reflective  faculties  are  harmoniously  blend- 
ed, and  withal  hers  is  an  educated  intellect,  with  an 
available  mind.  She  is  possessed  of  almost  sleepless 
energy,  and  her  slight,  frail  form  seems  knitted  for  en- 
durance. Never  restless  or  impatient,  she  compre- 
hends" at  a  glance  her  position  and  requirements,  and 
by  the  force  of  her  will  overcomes  obstacles  and  bears 
up  with  fortitude  under  accumulated  trials. 

Beared  in  the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee,  her  na- 
ture is  untrammeled  by  artistic  contortions,  and  her 
manners  are  as  free  from  ostentation  as  are  the  feelings 
which  prompt  them.     The  eldest  of  five  children,  she 
was  to  her  mother  an  efficient  aid  in  the  care  of  her 
brothers  and  sister,  and  in  the  management  of  her 
house.     When  she  was  old  enough  to  attend  school,  it 
was  her  task  to  assist  in  keeping  house,  and  no  duty 
was  neglected.     It  has  been  remarked  that  she  never 
had  time  to  play.     "While  other  school-girls  amused, 
themselves  in  the  sports  of  the  season,  the  pale,  quiet 
Martha  Johnson  hastened  back  to  relieve  her  mother, 
and  by  her  indefatigable  industry  performed  the  many 
deeds  so  grateful  to  a  parent,  when  offered  by  a  child. 
The  neighbors  called  her  a  strange,  silent  being,  indif- 
ferent to  the  ordinary  amusements  of  the  young,  but 
she  felt  herself  ennobled  by  the  work  she  daily  made 
a  part  of  her  life,  and  passed  these  younger  years  in 
her  own  earnest  way. 


60S  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

She  was  placed  by  her  father,  who  was  then  a 
member  of  Congress,  at  school  in  Georgetown,  where 
she  remained  three  terms,  and  there  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  structure  which,  as  she  grows  older,  develops 
her  native  strength  of  mind. 

It  happened  that,  during  her  school-life  in  George- 
town, President  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  occupied  the  White 
House,  and  she  became  his  frequent  guest,  spending 
most  of  her  holidays  in  the  mansion  in  which,  later  in 
life,  she  was  to  preside.  Her  own  accounts  of  ner  so- 
journ are  amusing,  deprecating  as  she  does  the  awk- 
ward conduct  of  the  timid,  bashful  girl,  in  the  stately 
residence,  through  which  the  voices  of  children  never 
resounded.  She  was  shy  and  distant,  and  the  stately 
kindness  of  the  hostess  could  not  overcome  her  shrink- 
ing reserve  ;  it  was  her  greatest  delight  then  to  observe 
persons,  and  the  opportunity  afforded  was  not  lost  upon 
her.  She  returned  home  in  1S51,  and  was  married  to 
Judge  David  T.  Patterson,  on  the  13th  of  December, 
1856.  Xo  wedding  festivities  marked  the  occasion,  it 
being  congenial  to  her  habits  to  have  a  quiet  ceremony. 
After  which  she  visited  Xashville,  where  her  father 
was  residing  as  Governor  of  the  State.  Extending  her 
tour  through  the  southern  cities  to  Xew  Orleans,  she 
returned  to  her  old  home  in  Tennessee,  where  she  con- 
tinued to  live  until  the  war  in  1860  disturbed  the  pri- 
vate relations  of  the  entire  family.  Throughout  the 
stormy  years  of  '61  and  '62,  she  remained  in  East  Ten- 
nessee, nor  did  she  leave  there  till,  late  in  the  next  year, 
she  visited  her  mother's  family  at  Nashville.  It  was 
her  intention  to  remain  several  months  and  then  go  back 


LADIES    OP    TEE    WHITE    HOUSE.  609 

to  her  Lome ;  bat  before  she  again  crossed  its  threshold, 
the  two  contending  armies  had  passed  through  the 
place,  leaving  nothing  but  the  empty  house.  Every 
particle  of  furniture,  every  prized  relic  of  her  own  and 
her  children's  infant  years  were  gone,  and  their  home 
was  desolated.  She  trod  its  familiar  apartments 
where  she  had  left  so  many  mementoes  of  a  happy 
past,  and  nothing  remained  save  the  bare  walls.  Well 
she  remembered  the  arranging  and  adjusting  of  every 
thing  before  closing  it  up,  and  as  she  gazed  upon  its 
comfortless  appearance,  her  mind  dwelt  upon  the  time 
she  had  spent  in  adding  to  its  adornment. 

The  family  were  in  Nashville  when  the  nomination 
of  the  father,  then  Military  Governor  of  Tennessee,  as 
Vice-President  was  announced,  and  they  witnessed  the 
delight  of  the  Un;on  men  of  the  Capital,  as  the  news 
spread  of  his  succe-s. 

Early  in  February,  the  Vice-President  proposed  to 
leave  Tennessee,  and  his  children  decided  to  seek  once 
more  their  home  in  Greenville.  The  news  of  the  assas- 
sination of  President  Lincoln  flashed  over  the  wires  on 
the  morning  of  the  15th  of  April,  as  the  drams  were 
beating  and  soldiers  parading  for  a  grand  review  and 
procession  in  honor  of  the  recent  victories.  It  reached 
the  family  of  Mr.  Johnson  as  they  were  preparing  for 
their  removal  home,  and  awakened  in  their  breasts 
anxious  fears  for  the  fate  of  the  husband  and  father. 
Assurances  of  his  safety  calmed  their  minds,  and  with 
deep  thankfulness  that  he  was  spared,  they  sorrowed 
for  the  untimely  death  of  the  President.  The  Nash- 
ville papers  of  the  19th  of  April,  thus  speak  of  the 
39 


610  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

funeral  procession  in  honor  of  the  murdered  Chief 
Magistrate : 

"  All  places  of  business  were  closed,  and  every  store 
and  dwelling  appropriately  draped  in  mourning.  The 
procession  numbered  upward  of  fifteen  thousand  per- 
sons ;  among  them  were  Generals  Thomas,  Miller, 
Whipple  and  Donaldson,  and  in  the  line  of  civilians 
which  swelled  its  length  was  seen  the  carriage  of  Mrs. 
James  K.  Polk,  occupied  by  herself  and  Mrs.  Patterson, 
the  daughter  of  President  Johnson." 

The  family  of  the  new  President  reached  Washing- 
ton in  June,  and  soon  after  took  up  their  residence  in 
the  White  House.  Here  was  a  new  field  entirely  for 
the  diffident  woman  who  was  compelled  to  do  the 
honors  in  lieu  of  her  mother,  who  was  a  confirmed 
invalid.  After  the  harrowing:  scenes  through,  which 
the  former  occupants  had  passed,'  the  House  looked 
any  thing  but  invitiDg  to  the  family.  Soldiers  had 
wandered  unchallenged  the  entire  suites  of  parlors ; 
and  the  East  Eoom,  dirty  and  soiled,  was  filled  with 
vermin.  Guards  had  slept  upon  the  sofas  and  carpets 
until  they  were  ruined,  and  the  immense  crowds  who, 
during  the  preceding  years  of  war,  filled  the  President's 
house  continually,  had  worn  out  the  already  ancient 
furniture.  2^o  sign  of  neatness  or  comfort  greeted 
their  appearance  at  their  new  home,  but  evidences 
everywhere  of  neglect  and  decay  met  their  eye3.  To 
put  aside  all  ceremony  and  work  constantly,  was  the 
portion  of  Mrs.  Patterson,  under  whose  control  were 
placed  the  numerous  servants  connected  with  the 
establishment. 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  Gil 

"  The  first  Keception  held  by  President  Johnson 
was  on  the  1st  of  January,  1S66,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Pat- 
terson and  Mrs.  Stover,  his  two  daughters.  Their  soft- 
ness and  ease  of  manner  had  an  eloquent  external  ex- 
pression in  the  simple  neatness  of  their  apparel,  and 
surpassed  in  quiet  dignity  all  who  gathered  to  see  them. 
The  house  had  not  been  renovated,  and  the  apartments 
were  dingy  and  destitute  of  ornament,  save  two  kind-, 
which  are  more  touchiugly  beautiful  than  gems  of  the 
east.  Natural  flowers  were  in  profusion,  and  left  their 
fragrance,  while  the  little  children  of  the  house  were 
livingr,  breathing  ornaments  attracting  everv  eve. 
The  old  injured  furniture  of  the  East  Eoom  was  re- 
moved, and  the  worn-out  carpets  covered  with  linen. 
The  supervision  of  Mrs.  Patterson  made  the  house 
quite  presentable.  Mrs.  Patterson  was  attired  in 
a  blue  velvet,  white  lace  shawl,  and  point  lace 
collar.  Her  dark  hair  was  put  back  from  her  face, 
with  pendant  tresses,  and  adorned  with  a  single  white 
Japonica.  Mrs.  Stover,  who  was  yet  in  half-mourning 
for  her  gallant  husband,  wore  a  heavy  black  silk,  with 
no  ornaments  in  her  light  hair. 

During  the  early  spring,  an  appropriation  was 
made  by  Congress,  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  refur- 
nish the  Executive  Mansion,  and  durinsr  the  lonsr  and 
warm  summer  succeeding,  she  stru^led  unceasincrlv 
with  the  atlas-heaps  of  lumber  and  old  furniture 
scarcely  worth  repairing,  but  which  was  renovated  for 
use.  The  firmness  and  decision  of  Mrs.  Patterson's 
character  was  fully  tested  in  this  trying  ordeal,  but  she 
triumphed  over  every  difficulty,  and  so  managed  the 


612  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

amount  appropriated  that  the  Executive  Mansion  was 
once  more  comfortable,  and  more  beautiful  than  ever 
before. 

Appreciating  the  condition  of  the  country  just 
emersriW  from  a  Ions*  strife,  she  determined  to  make 
the  funds  voted  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
upholsterer,  and  to  do  so,  she  constituted  herself  agent 

Hearing  the  proposals  of  various  firms,  she  found, 
to  put  the  matter  in  other  hands,  she  could  not  more 
than  furnish  the  parlors  and  reception  rooms,  and  then 
her  determination  was  formed  to  superintend  the  pur- 
chases. By  dint  of  perseverance  and  the  coopera- 
tion of  competent  assistants,  she  had  the  house  com- 
pleted when  the  winter  season  approached.  Old  and 
abused  setts  were  repolished  and  covered,  and  the 
papering  which  she  had  not  the  means  to  remove 
entirely,  was  made  to  assume  a  brighter  appearance 
by  the  addition  of  pannelings  and  gilt  ornaments. 

The  warm  weather,  which  had  ever  found  her  be- 
fore the  war  in  her  mountain  home,  now  came  upon 
her  in  its  intensity,  as  she  labored  with  her  numerous 
assistants  in  arranging;  the  comfortless  residence  over 
which  she  presided.  Who,  while  admiring  the  elegant 
and  refined  atmosphere  of  the  historic  house  during 
her  father's  administration,  imagined  that  the  entire 
labor  was  accomplished  by  the  tact  and  energy  of  the 
daughter  who  received  and  entertained  her  visitors  so 
unostentatiously  ? 

Tenderly  caring  for  her  invalid  mother,  and  her 
children,  who  grew  weary  of  the  restraints  imposed 
upon  them,  she  struggled  on  and  succeeded  in  making 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  613 

the  house  not  only  attractive  to  her  friends,  but  to 
citizens  and  strangers,  who  pronounced  it  handsomer 
than  it  ever  was  in  times  past.  The  exquisite  walls 
of  the  Blue  Rooin  will  remain  a  lasting  proof  of  her 
accomplished  and  cultivated  refinements,  and  the  grace- 
ful adornments  of  the  hitherto  stiff  and  ungainly  East 
Room  are  living  evidences  of  her  ability.  A  newspaper 
correspondent  who  visited  the  White  House  compli- 
mented Mrs.  Patterson  upon  the  Republican  simplicity 
of  the  establishment,  to  which  she  replied,  "  We  are 
a  plain  people,  sir,  from  the  mountains  of  Tennessee, 
and  we  do  not  propose  to  put  on  airs  because  we  have 
the  fortune  to  occupy  this  place  for  a  little  while." 
"There  is  a  homeliness  in  this  utterance,11  says  the 
Albany  Evening  Journal,  "  which  will  shock  the  sensi- 
tive refinement  of  '  otfcar  of  roses  and  lavender  water 
classes,'  but  it  has  a  sentimeut  in  it  which  must  meet 
with  response  from  every  true  lover  of  democratic  ideas 
and  practices.1' 

Throughout  the  White  House  there  existed  not  a 
single  evidence  of  tawrdry  gaudiness  or  coarseness  in 
color  or  quality ;  and  from  cellar  to  garret  it  was  over- 
hauled and  adorned  by  the  unaffected  hostess,  who 
called  herself  "  a  plain  person  from  East  Tennessee." 

"  The  reference  of  Mrs.  Patterson  to  the  mountain 
home  of  her  family,  is  suggestive  of  the  fact  that  when 
the  tornado  of  war  was  sweeping  over  Tennessee,  Pres- 
ident Johnson's  kin  dwelt  where  its  ravages  were  most 
dreadful,  and  that  while  some  who  are  now  leading  the 
shoddy  aristocracy  of  the  metropolis  were  coining  their 
ill-gotten  dollars  from  the  sufferings  and  blood  of  brave 


614  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

men,  they  were  being  hunted  from  point  to  point, 
driven  to  seek  a  refuge  in  the  solitude  of  the  wilder- 
ness, forced  to  subsist  on  coarse  and  insufficient  food, 
and  more  than  once  called  to  bury  with  secret  and 
stolen  sepulture  those  whom  they  loved :  murdered  be- 
cause they  would  not  join  in  deeds  of  odious  treason 
to  union  and  liberty.  A  family  with  such  a  record  of 
devotion  and  Buffering,  needs  for  its  recognition  none 
of  the  adventitious  aids  of  show  and  pretence.  It  is 
refreshing  in  these  days  of  extravagant  and  pompous 
display,  when  silly  pretence  is  made  to  pass  current  for 
gentility,  when  bombast  and  fustian  are  palmed  off  as 
good  breeding,  when  the  shopman's  wrife  emulates  the 
luxury  of  a  duke's  household,  when  no  one  is  presumed 
to  be  worthy  the  honors  of  good  society  who  does  not 
'  put  on  airs,' to  hear  that  the  President's  daughter  who, 
by  courtesy  of  her  new  position  as  his  housekeeper,  is 
the  first  lady  of  the  land,  proposes  to  set  the  example 
of  a  truly  republican  simplicity  all  too  rare  among 
those  who  influence  the  customs  of  the  land." 

In  September,  ISO 7,  Mrs.  Patterson  accompanied 
the  Presidential  party  on  their  tour  through  the 
Northern  and  Western  states,  leaving  her  two  children 
with  her  mother  at  the  White  House.  Returning  in  a 
few  weeks,  she  resumed  the  routine  of  her  life,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  approaching  season. 

Mrs.  Patterson  is  the  first  instance  of  the  wife  of  a 
Senator  and  a  daughter  of  the  President  presiding  over 
the  Executive  Mansion.  President  Jefferson's  second 
daughter.  Mrs.  Eppes,  held  a  similar  position,  but  she 
never  presided  over  the  Mansion,  and  was  but  once  a 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  61 1 

visitor  at  the  President's  house  during  her  short  life, 
after  her  fathers  election.  The  threefold  responsibili- 
ties were  accepted  and  endured  with  a  calm  reliance 
on  the  energies  of  a  mind  ever  ready  for  the  occasion, 
and  the  world  has  already  rendered  the  verdict  of 
"  many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  ex- 
cellest  them  all." 

Simple  but  elegant  in  her  apparel,  never  descend- 
ing to  a  disregard  of  place,  yet  not  carried  away  by 
the  follies  of  fashion,  Mrs.  Patterson  has  pleased  the 
eye,  and  gratified  the  pride  of  all  who  felt  an  interest 
in  her  success.  Golden  opinions  of  her  taste  were  won 
by  the  rich  simplicity  of  her  toilet  on  every  public  oc- 
casion, and  the  beauty  of  her  dress  consisted  always  in 
the  artless,  unassuming  manner  of  the  wearer. 

In  the  combined  elements  which  go  to  form  the 
marked  character  of  Mrs.  Patterson,  she  was  not  unlike 
Mrs.  John  Adams,  and  her  will-power,  guided  by 
superior  common-sense,  recalls  to  mind  the  life  of  that 
brave  woman  of  the  Ke volution ;  but  the  current  of  cir- 
cumstances into  which  she  has  been  thrown,  has  been 
almost  too  strong  to  allow  her  perfect  freedom  of  ac- 
tion. In  her  life  there  has  never  come  a  time  when 
she  might  choose  between  diverging  pathways ;  but  if 
she  could  not  alter  the  stern  fiats  of  fate,  she  had  the 
power  of  dignifying  little  insignificant  things  and,  by 
her  mariner  of  teaching  them,  making  the  pleasantest 
side  appear.  In  an  eminent  degree  she  inherits  that 
most  marked  trait  of  her  fathers  character,  patient  en- 
durance, and  knows  "  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is,  to  suffer 
and  be  strong."   Treading  unmurmuringly  the  appoint- 


616  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

ed  way  of  life,  she  depends  upon  her  judgment  to 
guide  her  hark,  recognizing  the  fact  that  when  nature 
fills  the  sails  the  vessel  goes  smoothly  on ;  and  when 
judgment  is  the  pilot  the  insurance  need  not  be  high. 

In  the  higher  walks  of  literary  pursuits  she  will 
never  shine,  nor  yet  as  a  conspicuous  person  in  any  de- 
partment of  life.  She  has  essentially  a  Southerner's 
love  of  home ;  and  the  duties  devolving  upon  her  as  a 
mother,  daughter,  and  wife,  fill  the  meed  of  her  ambi- 
tion. True  to  principle,  she  will  perform  the  duties  of 
her  station  be  it  hio\h  or  low,  and  the  amount  of  cour- 
age  hidden  away  in  the  recesses  of  her  nature  would 
lead  her  in  emergencies  to  dare — if  need  be — to  die. 

Simple  to  a  fault  in  her  desires,  she  has  learnt  to 
gather  happiness  from  within,  and  to  rely  upon  the 
cold  charity  of  the  world  for  nothing.  She  would  not 
pine  for  luxuries  which  others  deem  necessities,  but 
even  rather  scorns  the  value  many  set  upon  them. 
Reared  as  she  was  in  childhood  by  parents  remarkable 
for  ceaseless  industry,  she  imbibed  the  lessons  taught 
her  by  example,  and  is  energetic  to  restlessness,  and 
vigilant  in  working  while  the  day  lasts. 

During  the  impeachment  trial  of  her  father,  Mrs. 
Patterson  was  asked  what  she  thought  of  it,  and  Low 
it  would  terminate.  "  I  have  so  much  to  do,"  she  re- 
plied, "  that  I  have  no  time  to  discuss  the  subject,  and 
I  suppose  my  private  opinion  is  not  worth  much ;  I  do 
not  know  how  it  will  end,  but  all  we  can  do  is  to  wait." 
And  she  did  wait,  bending  every  energy  to  entertain 
as  became  her  position,  and  wearing  always  a  patient, 
Buffering  look.     Through  the  long  weeks  of  the  trial, 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  617 

she  listened  to  every  request,  saw  every  caller,  and 
served  every  petitioner  (and  only  those  who  have  filled 
this  position  know  how  arduous  is  this  duty),  hiding 
from  all  eyes  the  anxious  weight  of  care  oppressing 
her.  If  she  was  indisposed  after  the  acquittal,  it  sur- 
prised no  one  who  had  seen  her  struggling  to  keep  up 
before. 

There  are  no  triumphs  or  displays  to  record  of  her 
life,  no  travels  in  foreign  lands,  nor  novel  sights  of 
strange  places.  She  has  not  stood  in  the  Orient  and 
watched  the  great  stars  swim  down  hot  Southern  skies, 
nor  heard  from  the  distant  palm  groves  the  orioles  and 
nightingales.  The  even  tenor  of  her  way  has  been  spent 
far  from  the  palaces  of  luxury  or  the  frivolities  of  fashion. 
She  has  not  trodden  the  gilded  halls  of  ephemeral  wealth, 
nor  basked  in  the  sunlight  of  uninterrupted  prosperity, 
but  from  the  emanations  of  her  father's  genius  she  has 
gathered  the  forces  which  strengthen  her  own  mind ; 
and  the  rounds  she  has  mounted  in  the  ladder  of  pro- 
gressive development  have  been  w~on  by  earnest 
thought  and  the  gradual  experiences  of  a  still  young 
life. 

She  more  than  any  other  of  her  name  and  race,  has 
appreciated  the  giant  efforts  of  her  father,  and  upon 
her  has  he  devoted  most  attention.  The  companion  in 
childhood  of  the  village  tailor,  she  has  become  in 
womanhood  the  counsellor  and  friend  of  the  successful 
statesman. 

Louis  Napoleon,  in  his  Life  of  Julius  Coesar,  says  : 
— "How  little  able  are  common  men  to  judge  of  the 
motives  which  govern  great  souls."     The  history  of 


618  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Mrs.  Patterson's  stay  in  the  Executive  Mansion  sug. 
gests  the  thought  how  unappreciated  she  is  by 
those  who  fawn  around  her  in  her  hour  of  triumph; 
Possessing  native  intellect  to  a  high  degree,  she  knows 
her  latent  powers,  and  her  head  thinks  and  her  soul 
feels  the  difference  between  her  sound  principles  and 
practical  sense,  and  the  flippant,  vain  women  who  con- 
sider her  unfashionable.  With  such  a  class  she  can 
have  no  sympathy,  and  it  is  foreign  to  her  nature  to 
dissemble.  Circumventing  all  attempts  at  advice  and 
assistance,  she  taught  many  who  insisted  upon  helping 
her,  that  a  sensible  woman  is  never  at  a  loss  for  words 
or  manners,  and  to  such,  Presidents'  Houses  are  as  sim- 
ple residences,  requiring  only  the  refinement  of  the 
lady  and  the  ability  of  a  resolute,  determined  person. 
Genial  and  sociable  to  familiar  friends,  she  is  and  must 
be  distant  and  reserved  toward  promiscuous  visitors  ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  she  has  a  high  sense  of  the  jus- 
tice due  the  masses  from  the  family  of  the  first  official 
in  the  nation.  This  feeling  of  duty  toward  others 
actuated  her  course  in  keeping  the  White  House  ready 
always  to  be  seen  by  the  crowds  who  daily  throng  it. 
Parlors  and  conservatories  were  kept  open  as  much  as 
consistent,  though  many  times  very  annoying  to  the 
inmates,  and  rendering  the  privacy  of  their  own  apart- 
ments rather  a  matter  of  chance  than  of  certainty.  It 
was  not  unfrequent  that  idle  curiosity-seekers  ventured 
through  the  closed  doors  which  separated  the  private 
from  the  public  wing  of  the  building,  and  intruded 
upon  the  forbearing  occupants;  yet  such  occur- 
rences were  never  made    the  occasion  of   trouble — a 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  619 

polite  request  and  pleasant  acceptance  of  the  proffered 
apology  sufficed,  and  not  unfrequently  added  the  of- 
fenders of  etiquette  to  her  list  of  new-made  friends. 

It  was  the  custom  of  Mrs.  Patterson  to  rise  early ; 
and  after  a  simple  toilet,  completed  usually  by  a  calico 
dress  and  spotless  -apron,  to  skim  the  milk  and  attend 
to  the  dairy  before  breakfast.  In  the  hall  connecting 
the  conservatory  to  the  main  building,  her  clean  pails 
mio-ht  be  seen  ranged  in  resrular  order.  When,  on 
Saturday  afternoons,  the  greenhouses  were  thrown  open 
to  the  public,  these  evidences  of  her  housekeeping  pro- 
pensities were  removed.  Fond  of  the  delicacies  of  the 
table,  she  valued  home-made  articles,  and  the  delicious 
tea-cakes,  from  her  own  receipt,  tasted  wonderfully 
like  those  'made  in  her  kitchen  at  home. 

Caring  for  real  comforts,  to  the  exclusion  of  costly 
expenditures,  she  prided  herself  upon  gratifying  the 
wants  and  tastes  of  her  household,  and  rendering  the 
domestic  life  of  the  White  House  a  reality. 

In  the  possession  of  such  principles,  and  actuated 
by  motives  which  redound  to  her  praise,  Mrs.  Patter- 
son's life  cannot  fail  to  be  worthy  of  emulation,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  her  conscience  must  be  a  well- 
spring  of  pleasure,  sparkling  like  sunshine  through  the 
darkest  places  in  her  earthly  career. 

The  last  levee  held  by  President  Johnson  is  dis- 
cussed by  a  Washington  paper  after  the  following 
manner: 

"  The  levees  at  the  Executive  Mansion  have  always 
been  occasions  of  especial  interest  to  strangers  who 
chanced  to  be  in  Washington  during  the  session  of 


620  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

Congress ;  but  never  before,  since  receptions  were  in- 
augurated, lias  there  been  such  an  ovation  at  a  Presi- 
dential levee  as  was  last  night  at  President  Johnson's 
closing  reception.  The  attendance  comprised  not  onlv 
an  unusual  number  of  our  own  citizens,  but  also  a 
greater  multitude  of  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  than  was  ever  present  on  a  similar  occasion.  As 
early  as  half-past  seven,  and  long  before  the  doors  were 
opened,  there  w~ere  numerous  arrivals  at  the  Presiden- 
tial Mansion.  An  hour  later,  and  the  rush  had  com- 
menced in  good  earnest.  A  Ions  line  of  carriages  ex- 
tended  from  the  street  to  the  portico  in  front  of  the 
house;  every  car  on  the  F  Street  and  Avenue  lines  ad- 
ded fresh  accessions  to  the  crowd ;  while  hundreds, 
availing  themselves  of  the  pleasant  weather,  came  on 
foot.  Although,  an  extra  police  force  had  been  de- 
tailed for  the  evening,  and  every  arrangement  had  been 
made  in  the  cloak-room  for  the  accommodation  of  all, 
so  great  was  the  rush  that  confasion  was,  in  a  measure, 
unavoidable.  The  dressing-rooms  and  corridors  were 
closely  packed  with  people  mainly  striving  to  reach 
the  entrance  to  the  Reception-room,  and  it  was  found 
necessary  to  close  the  outside  doors,  and  also  the  door 
leading  from  the  hall  into  the  Red  Parlor.  The  crowd 
here  was  fearful,  but  fortunately,  it  was  composed 
mainly  of  the  male  sex. 

t;  Those  in  front  were  pushed  on  by  those  behind, 
and  the  position  of  every  one  was  most  uncomfortable, 
while  at  one  time,  persons  were  in  actual  danger  of 
being  crushed.  However,  the  utmost  good  humor 
prevailed,  and  we  heard  of  no  accidents.     In  the  ladies 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.       '  62] 

dressing-room,  the  pressure  was  also  very  great,  and 
the  breaking  down  of  a  table  caused  some  thoughtless 
person  to  raise  an  alarm  of  fire,  which  for  a  few  mo- 
merits  created  terror  and  consternation  anions;  the 
timid  fair  ones.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  line  of  equipages 
not  only  filled  the  carriage-way  from  the  east  to  the 
west  gate,  but  extended  for  two  squares  on  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue. 

"  The  space  in  front  of  the  Mansion,  and  the  side- 
walk from  the  portico  to  the  gate,  was  crowded  with 
people,  waiting  in  the  hope  of  gaining  admission  to  the 
house.  Policemen  were  now  stationed  at  the  front  en- 
trance, and  only  a  few  were  admitted  at  a  time.  Those 
who  made  their  exit  from  the  mansion  were  obliged 
to  pass  under  the  arms  of  the  policemen,  who  were 
stationed  to  keep  back  the  surging  crowd.  Hundreds 
left  unable  even  to  reach  the  portico.  The  door  lead 
ing  to  the  ladies'  dressing-room,  was  blocked  by  gentle- 
men looking  for  those  .under  their  charge,  while  scores 
of  bright  eyes  searched  anxiously  through  the  throng 
seeking  in  vain  for  escorts  not  to  be  found.  Many  of 
the  ladies,  unable  to  find  their  escorts,  were  pushed  on 
by  the  crowd,  and  were  obliged  to  make  their  entrance 
into  the  Blue  Room  unattended,  and  in  several  instances 
it  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  reception  that  parties 
who  had  been  separated  at  the  commencement  of  the 
evening  were  again  united. 

"  Th^  President  occupied  his  usual  position  near  the 
entrance  of  the  Blue  Parlor,  the  visitors  being  presented 
by  Marshal  Gording.  From  eight  o'clock  until  after 
eleven  the  crowd  poured  through  the  apartments,  and 


622  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

to  each  person,  however  humble  his  or  her  station, 
President  Johnson  extended  a  pleasant  and  cordial 
greeting.  Mrs.  Patterson,  who  stood  at  the  right  of 
the  President,  and  a  few  steps  farther  back  in  the 
room,  was  attired  with  customary  taste  and  elegance. 
She  wore  a  Lyons  black  velvet,  handsomely  trimmed 
with  bands  of  satin  and  black  lace.  A  shawl  of  wkit(j 
thread-lace  fell  in  graceful  folds  over  her  dress.  Her 
hair  was  simply  and  becomingly  ornamented,  and  her 
jewelry  was  of  the  most  chaste  description.  The  cere- 
mony of  introduction  was  graciously  performed  by 
General  Mickler.  In  the  vast  concourse  assembled  to 
pay  their  respects  to  the  retiring  Chief  Magistrate, 
were  many  persons  of  distinction  from  abroad,  as  well 
as  an  unusual  number  of  Washington  celebrities.  From 
Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the 
seaboard  on  the  Pacific,  there  was  scarcely  a  State  or 
Territory  that  was  not  represented  last  night,  at  the 
farewell  reception  of  Andrew  Johnson,  whose  kindly 
grasp  and  sincere  smile  called  forth  many  a  hearty 
wish  for  his  future  happiness  and  prosperity.  Exquisite 
bouquets  of  choice  exotics  were  scattered  through  the 
rooms  The  superb  East  Parlor  was  dazzlingly  illumi- 
nated. Magnificent  mirrors  flashed  back  the  light 
from  the  quivering  crystals  of  the  massive  chandeliers. 
From  the  ante-chamber  came  the  sweet  strains  of  the 
Marine  Band,  floating  in  softened  cadence  through  the 
sumptuous  apartments.  The  scene  was  one  of  unrivalled 
interest,  and  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
were  present.  The  display  of  wealth  and  beauty  was 
bewilderino;.     It  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  describe 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  623 

the  toilettes  of  the  many  lovely  ladies  present,  and  it 
would  be  still  harder  to  decide,  anions:  so  lartre  a  num- 
ber  of  magnificent  dresses,  which  was  the  most  beau- 
tiful:1 

Another  prominent  daily  contained  a  lengthy  and 
interesting  account  of  this  reception,  the  largest  ever 
held  in  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  from  all  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  unpleasant  political  life 
of  the  President,  was  a  significant  proof  that  he  is  social- 
ly preeminently  popular.  Every  grade  of  citizens,  rep- 
resenting every  party  and  creed,  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  expressions  of  admiration  for  the  honest,  up- 
right conduct  of  the  retiring  Executive  and  his  charm- 
ing  daughters. 

B  Last  night,  President  Johnson  held  his  farewell 
reception  at  the  White  House,  and  certainly  quite  in  a 
blaze  of  glory,  as  far  as  social  attention  is  concerned. 
Perhaps  the  whole  history  of  the  Presidential  Mansion 
gives  no  record  of  such  a  crowded  reception.  It  is  es- 
timated that  some  five  thousand  people  sought  admit- 
tance in  vain,  while  fully  as  many  must  have  gained  an 
entrance,  almost  each  individual  member  of  this  suc- 
cessful crowd  submitting  the  host  of  the  evening  to 
the  inevitable  hand-shaking.  He  bore  it  well,  and  un- 
til the  last  moment  a  sweet  suffering  smile  irradiated  his 
countenance.  The  band  struck  up  'Hail  Columbia, 
and  the  doors  were  thrown  open.  The  President  re- 
ceived the  crowd  in  the  Blue  Boom,  which  was  hand- 
somely lighted  up,  and  adorned  in  the  centre  with  a 
magnificent  stand  of  fragrant  flowers.  As  the  crowd 
increased,  the  sagacious  official  abandoned  the  system 


624  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  announcing  names,  so  that  the  President  accepted 
without  explanation  all  who  presented  themselves. 

"  A  few  steps  from  the  President,  and  near  the  stand 
of  flowers,  Mrs.  Patterson,  a  handsome,  though  not  tall 
ladv,  of  very  pleasing  manners  and  appearance,  're- 
ceived '  the  lady  guests.  She  wore  an  elegant  white 
lace  shawl,  which  quite  enveloped  her  person,  and  a 
long  curl  fell  down  her  back.  The  simply  unaffected 
grace  of  this  lady,  and  her  entire  freedom  from 
pretension,  either  in  garb  or  manner,  attracted  highly 
favorable  comment.  Mrs.  Patterson  is  quite  a  young 
lady,  and  when  some  of  the  bare-armed,  bare-necked, 
would-be-juvenile  dowagers  were  presented  to  her,  the 
contrast  was  entirely  in  favor  of  the  President's  daugh- 
ter." 

Of  the  many  elegant  entertainments  given  by 
President  Johnson,  none  surpassed  the  State  dinners. 
They  were  conducted  on  a  most  generous  aud  princely 
scale,  and  reflected  lasting  honor  upon  the  taste  and 
judgment  of  his  daughter,  to  whom  was  left  the  entire 
arrangement  of  every  social  entertainment.  The  mag- 
nificent State  dining-room,  which  had  been  closed  dur 
iner  the  last  few  years  of  President  Lincoln's  adminis- 
tration,  became  again  a  scene  of  hospitality,  and  re- 
sounded once  more  with  the  voices  of  welcome  guests 
and  personal  friends. 

Nothing  contributed  more  than  these  'affairs  of 
State  '  to  win  for  the  family  that  popularity  apart,  from 
their  lofty  social  position,  which  they  enjoyed  whilst 
in  Washington.  A  letter  written  by  a  lady  who  was 
familiar  with  the  home-life  of  Mrs.  Patterson,  may  not 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  625 

prove  uninteresting,  pertaining,  as  it  does,  particularly 
to  the  subject  of  State  dinners. 

"  Late  in  the  afternoon  I  was  sitting  in  the  cheer- 
ful room  occupied  by  the  invalid  mother,  when  Mrs. 
Patterson  came  for  me  to  go  and  see  the  table.  The 
last  State  dinner  was  to  be  given  this  night,  and  the 
preparations  for  the  occurrence  had  been  commen- 
surate with  those  of  former  occasions.  I  looked  at  the 
invalid,  whose  feet  had  never  crossed  the  apartment  to 
which  we  were  going,  and  by  whom  the  elegant  enter- 
tainments over  which  her  daughters  presided,  were 
totally  unenjoyed.  Through  the  hall  and  down  the 
stairway,  I  followed  my  hostess  and  stood  beside  her 
in  the  grand  old  room.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  alto- 
gether  rare  scene  which  I  viewed  in  the  quiet  light  of 
this  closing  winter  day,  and  the  recollections  and  asso- 
ciations of  the  time  linger  most  vividly  in  memory 
now.  The  table  was  arranged  for  forty  persons,  each 
guest's  name  being  upon  the  plate  designated  in  the 
invitation  list. 

"In  the  centre  stood  three  magnificent  ormolu  orna- 
ments  filled  with  fadeless  French  flowers,  while  beside 
each  plate  was  a  bouquet  of  odorous  greenhouse  exotics. 
It  was  not  the  color  or  design  of  the  Sevres  china, 
of  green  and  gold, — the  fragile  glass,  nor  yet  the 
massive  plate  which  attracted  my  admiration,  but  the 
harmony  of  the  whole,  which  satisfied  and  refreshed. 
From  the  heavy  curtains,  depending  from  the  lofty 
windows,  to  the  smallest  ornament  in  the  room,  all  was 
ornate  and  consistent.  I  could  not  but  contrast  this 
vision  of  grandeur  with  the  delicate,  child-like  form 
40 


626  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

of  the  woman  who  watched  nie  with  a  quiet  smile  as  1 
eDJoyed  this  evidence  of  her  taste  and  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful. 

"  All  day  she  had  watched  over  the  movements  of 
those  engaged  in  the  arrangement  of  this  room,  and 
yet  so  unobtrusive  had  been  her  presence  and  so  sys- 
tematically had  she  planned,  that  no  confusion  occurred 
in  the  complicated  household  machinery.  For  the 
pleasure  it  would  give  her  children  hereafter,  she 
had  an  artist  photograph  the  interior  of  the  apart- 
ment, and  he  was  just  leaving  with  his  trophy  when 
we  entered. 

"  Long  we  lingered,  enjoying  the  satisfaction  one 
experiences  in  beholding  a  beautiful  and  finished  task. 
All  was  ready  and  complete,  and  when  we  passed  from 
the  room,  there  was  still  a  time  for  rest  and  repose 
before  the  hour  named  in  the  cards  of  invitation. 

"Through  the  Red  and  Blue  parlors  we  sauntered 
slowly,  she  recalling  reminiscences  of  the  past  four 
years,  and  speaking  with  unreserved  frankness  of  her 
feelings  on  her  approaching  departure.  It  was  almost 
twilight  as  we  entered  the  East  room,  and  its  sombre- 
ness  and  wondrous  size  struck  me  forcibly.  The  hour 
for  strangers  and  visitors  had  past,  and  we  felt  secure 
to  wander  in  our  old-fashioned  way  up  and  down  its 
great  length.  It  was  softly  raining,  we  discovered  as 
we  peered  through  the  window,  and  a  light  fringe  of 
mist  hung  over  the  trees  in  the  grounds,  and  added  a 
shade  of  gloom  to  the  cheerless  view.  The  feeling  of 
bodily  comfort  one  has  in  watching  it  rain,  from  the 
window  of  a  cozy  room,  was  intensified  by  the  associa- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  627 

tions  of  this  historic  place,  and  the  sadness  of  time  was 
lost  in  the  outreachings  of  eternity. 

"  Its  spectral  appearance,  as  we  turned  from  the 
window  and  looked  down  its  shadowy  outlines, — the 
quickly  succeeding  thoughts  of  the  many  who  had 
crowded  into  its  now  deserted  space,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  some  who  would  no  more '  come,  were  fast 
crowding  out  the  practical,  and  leaving  in  its  place 
mental  excitement,  and  spiritualized,  nervous  influences, 
not  compatible  with  ordinary  every-day  life.  Mrs. 
Patterson  was  first  to  note  the  flight  of  time,  and  as 
we  turned  to  leave  with  the  past  the  hour  it  claimed, 
her  always  grave  face  lighted  up  with  a  genuine  happy 
expression,  as  she  said,  '  I  am  glad  this  is  the  last  of 
entertainments — it  suits  me  better  to  be  quiet  and  in 
my  own  home.  Mother  is  not  able  to  enjoy  these 
things.  Belle  is  too  young,  and  I  am  indifferent  to 
them — so  it  is  well  it  is  almost  over.1  As  she  ceased 
speaking  the  curtains  over  the  main  entrance  parted, 
and*  the  President  peered  in,  'to  see,'  he  said,  'if 
Martha  had  shown  me  the  portraits  of  the  Presi- 
dents ?  '  Joining  him  in  his  promenade,  we  passed  be- 
fore them,  as  they  were  hanging  in  the  main  hall,  he 
dwelling  upon  the  life  and  character  of  each,  and  we 
listening  to  his  descriptions,  and  personal  recollections. 
The  long  shadows  of  twilight  and  deepening  gloom 
disappeared  before  the  brilliant  glare  of  the  gas,  and 
we  turned  from  this  place  of  interest,  reminded  that 
the  present  was  only  ours,  and  with  the  past  we  could 
have  no  possible  business  when  inexorable  custom 
demanded  our  acquiescence. 


628  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

"  Not  the  display  of  beautiful  toilettes,  nor  the  faces 
of  lovely  women,  could  draw  from  my  mind  the  mem- 
orv  of  that  afternoon.  More  than  ever  was  I  convinced 
that  the  best  of  our  natures  is  entirely  out  of  the  reach 
of  ordinary  events,  and  the  finest  fibres  are  rarely,  if 
ever,  made  to  thrill  in  sympathy  with  outward  influ- 
ences. Grave  statesmen  and  white-haired  dignitaries 
chatted  merrily  with  fair  young  ladies  or  sedate  ma- 
trons, but  turn  where  I  would,  the  burden  of  my 
thoughts  were  the  remarks  of  Mrs.  Patterson,  whose 
unselfish  devotion  to  her  father  deserves  a  more  fitting 
memorial  than  this  insignificant  mention  in  a  letter. 
State  dinners  would  have  been  dreadful  bores  to  the 
father,  had  not  the  watchful  eyes  of  his  favorite  child 
anticipated  every  wish  and  circumvented  every  desire. 

"With  her  opposite  him,  and  by  her  proximity  re- 
lievino*  him  of  much  of  the  necessitv  of  entertaining, 
he  enjoyed  and  bestowed  pleasure,  and  won  for  these 
social  entertainments  a  national  reputation." 

':  The  occupants  of  the  White  House  leave  it  with 
the  most  spotless  social  reputation.  There  is  no  insin- 
uation, no  charge  against  them,  no  furniture  nor  orna- 
ments gone.  Neither  can  men  say  they  have  received 
expensive  presents ;  no  carriages,  no  costly  plate  has 
been  o-iven  them.  Thev  will  be  remembered  in  Wash- 
ington  as  high-minded,  honorable  people.  The  '  House ' 
has  been  kept  in  order,  elegance,  and  liberal  hospitality. 
No  old  friends  cut,  no  new  ones  toasted,  but  an  even 
tenor  of  perfect  sociability  has  made  all  feel  welcome. 
No  taint  of  meanness  or  corruption  clings  to  any 
member  of  the  whole  family ;  they  leave  the  White 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  629 

House  gladly  abandoning  its  cares  and  honors,  beloved 
and  respected,  with  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts." 

Before  leaving  Washington,  the  family  supplied 
themselves  with  plain  household  furniture,  for  the  ra- 
vages of  war  left  but  the  bare  house  to  cover  then- 
heads.  The  boxes  sent  to  Greenville  contained  no 
cast-off  finery  of  the  nation's  house,  no  valueless  treas- 
ure, nor  garments  of  bygone  beauty.  The  worn-out 
furniture  of  the  "  House  "  had  been  repaired  for  their 
use,  and,  be  it  said  to  their  credit,  looked  better  when 
they  left  it  than  it  had  done  since  the  day  of  its  pur- 
chase. Their  direst  enemies  publicly  declared  this 
truth,  and  rendered  homage  to  the  honest  and  illus- 
trious Tennessean  and  his  children's  spotless  fame.  It 
will  pass  into  history  that  no  President's  household 
ever  had  more  trials  both  of  a  public  and  private  char- 
acter, and  none  ever  left  the  station  more  universally 
respected. 

Visitors  hereafter  to  their  mountain  home  will  not 
be  grieved  by  the  sight  of  familiar  articles  purloined 
from  the  mansion  of  the  Republic,  nor  of  costly  pres- 
ents profusely  scattered  about,  paining  one  by  the  in- 
ference of  bribery.  Xor  will  it  be  necessary  to  go 
there  to  find  out  their  possessions ;  they  were  faithful 
and  incorruptible,  and  have  the  reward  of  fidelity,  a 
meagre  competence. 

It  was  once  remarked  that  Andrew  Johnson  had 
old-fashioned  honesty  and  puritan  love  of  liberty ;  it 
may  well  be  added,  his  children  have  been  trained  in 
the  same  school  and  have  not  departed  from  its  primi- 
tive  constitution. 


630  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  March,  1869,  Presi- 
dent Johnson,  accompanied  by  his  family,  bade  adieu 
to  the  servants  and  employees  of  the  Mansion,  and 
were  driven  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Coyle,  on  Missouri 
Avenue.  Mrs.  Patterson  accepted  the  hospitality  of 
Secretary  "Wells,  and  reached  there  soon  after  twelve 
o'clock. 

Thus  closed  the  administration  of  President  John- 
son. The  most  perilous,  stormy,  and  trying  one  ever 
closed  in  the  history  of  this  country  ;  a  record  of  rude 
unpleasant  contact  with  denied  revilers,  and  a  continu- 
ed struggle  from  first  to  last  to  maintain  untarnished 
the  oath  too  sacred  to  be  violated.  Not  here,  but  in 
the  annals  of  history  will  all  its  triumphs  be  written  ; 
not  in  this  day  or  generation  can  its  untainted  and  cor- 
rect measures  be  fully  estimated,  but  to  the  coming 
men  of  America  it  is  bequeathed,  a  sad  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  tyrannous  oppression  of  a  President,  and  a 
testimony  of  his  undeviating  course,  moving  onward, 
swerving  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  for- 
ward to  the  cradles  of  posterity  who  will  pass  judg- 
ment and  wreathe  immortelles  to  the  memory  of  the 
patriot,  whose  truth  will  not  be  doubted,  whose  hon- 
esty cannot  be  impeached. 

During  the  afternoon  of  the  day  the  President  left 
the  Executive  Mansion,  the  house  in  which  he  was  a  visi- 
tor was  crowded  to  overflowing  with  friends  and  admir- 
ers who  gathered  about  the  members  of  his  family  to 
express  their  attachment.  For  two  weeks  the  same  scene 
was  reenacted,  and  day  and  night  the  numerous  callers 
crowded  the  spacious  house.     One  continued  ovation 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE  HOUSE.  631 

of  people  of  every  political  party  assured  them  of 
their  popularity,  too  wide-spread  to  be  circumscribed 
by  party  lines.  Greater  in  their  retirement  than  the 
proudest  monarch's  of  earth,  they  stood  upon  its  thresh- 
old and  received  the  spontaneous  plaudits  of  a  nation. 
Behold  them,  reader,  as  thev  stand  that  last  night  in 
Washington  !  The  invalid  wife  is  in  her  room,  too  fee- 
ble to  walk,  but  surrounded  by  hearts  softened  and 
eyes  moistened  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  her  no  more. 
Mrs.  Patterson  is  bidding"  a  farewell  to  the  sorrowing 
band  of  employees  who  have  asked  a3  a  last  favor  for 
a  likeness,  and  makes  the  gift  the  more  acceptable  by 
presenting  them  with  pictures  of  all  the  family,  accom- 
panied by  her  deeply  felt  and  eloquently  expressed 
thanks  for  faithful  services  and  personal  friendship. 
Ever  and  anon  the  familiar  face  of  a  servant  appears, 
and  is  not  disappointed  in  the  welcome  received,  or  the 
parting  tokeu  of  well-merited  reward  for  faithful  ser- 
vices. Flowers,  "  recalling  all  life's  wine  and  honey," 
shed  their  aroma  through  space,  and  soften  by  their 
delicate  beauty  the  feelings  of  all  kindly  natures. 

Time  unheeded  passes,  and  yet  the  advent  of  u  com- 
ers "  forbids  the  wearied  eyes  to  close,  or  the  final  pre- 
parations to  be  made.  With  a  hand  raw  and  swollen 
from  the  hand-shakings  in  Baltimore  a  few  davs  be- 
fore,  Mr.  Johnson  stands  placid,  earnest,  and  deeply 
interested  in  the  final  words  of  all. 

Ah!  this— 

"Farewell,  farewell  is  a  mournful  thing, 
And  alwavs  brings  a  tear  ; 

Bat  the  heart  speaks  most;  when  the  lips  move  not, 
And  the  ere  savs  a  gentle  good-bv."        , 


632  LADIES    01    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

As  in  Washington  and  at  Baltimore,  so  in  Char- 
lotteville,  Lynchburg,  and  Knoxville,  every  demonstra- 
tion a  gratified  people  could  make,  was  extended  to  the 
retiring  President — 

Home  again,  and  the  -n-elkin  rings  the  glad  refrain, 
Home  again,  and  huzzas  express  Avhat  hearts  contain. 

More  heartfelt  and  touching  than  pen  can  portray, 
was  the  welcome  extended  to  the  admirable  family. 
Mrs.  Patterson  and  Mrs.  Stover  again  receive  congratu- 
lations, this  time  amongst  old  neighbors  and  un- 
changed friends,  and  the  world  is  better  and  humanity 
dignified  by  such  scenes. 

But  all  these  exciting  demonstrations  have  been 
too  much  for  the  weary  President,  and  ere  the  news  of 
their  triumphant  reception  had  ceased  to  sound,  the  in- 
telligence flashed  over  the  wires  of  his  hopeless  illness. 
Suspense — mighty  and  still  as  the  foam-crested  wave, 
waiting  to  gather  force  ere  it  dashes  again — held  all  in 
its  grasp,  and  the  nation  gazes  upon  the  track  made 
by  such  an  announcement,  and  in  breathless  expectancy 
dreads  the  next  motion. 

A  sound,  borne  over  the  mountain  gorges  and  na- 
ture's deep  fortresses,  bears,  on  the  winged  winds  of 
electricity,  the  harbinger  of  hope.  '  Our  Father  is  bet- 
ter to-night ! '  Reaction  comes,  the  waters  dash  and 
beat  again,  and  above  the  din  and  roar  of  a  busy 
world  is  heard  the  echo  of  that  announcement. 

My  sketch  draws  to  a  close,  for  into  the  sanctity 
of  a  home  we  will  not  enter.  Public  life,  in  the  ca- 
pacity dwelt  upon,  is  closed,  and  Mrs.  Patterson  is  no 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  633 

more  the  u  Lady  of  the  AVhite  House."  It  is,  per 
haps,  too  soon  to  institute  comparisons  or  draw  infer- 
ences of  her  future,  in  contrast  with  others  who  have 
held  the  position  she  has  just  resigned.  She  knows 
no  precedent,  nor  cares  for  any  custom  ;  the  fact  of  her 
holding;  that  hio'h  station  will  not  influence  her  future 
conduct.  Far  too  democratic  to  render  undue  import- 
ance to  place,  she  observes  "but  one  obligation  to  usage 
— and  that  is,  adaptation  to  the  position  she  now  nils. 
She  retires  with  her  brow  decked  with  laurels,  and  her 
name  dear  to  the  women  of  America,  for  she  gave  them 
a  testimonial  of  her  worth,  flattering  to  her  sex,  and 
redeemed  the  position  she  held  from  the  slur  and  slan- 
der attached  to  it.  Across  the  lapse  of  years  she 
clasps  hands  with  Miss  Lane,  and  restores  to  its  for- 
mer pristine  glory  the  title  of  hostess  of  the  President's 
House.  She  returns  it  to  her  countrymen  immacu- 
late, eliminated  from  odium,  and  as  lofty  and  untainted 
as  it  was  in  the  beginning. 

She  will  not  chide  if,  to  complete  this  sketch,  a 
confidence  is  betrayed,  and  from  a  private  letter  a  few 
interesting  items  are  extracted. 

"  I  have  been  more  than  busy  since  I  came  home, 
although  I  found  things  more  comfortable  than  I 
could  have  expected,  under  all  the  circumstances.  A 
portion  of  the  old  house  is  to  be  repaired  yet ;  after 
that,  I  will  have  an  extra  room  for  my  friends.  I  felt  I 
could  never  work  so  hard,  or  be  as  much  employed  in 
any  way  again  as  I  had  always  been  heretofore ;  but  the 
first  thing  I  knew  I  was  getting  up  at  five  o'clock,  tak- 
ing breakfast  before  seven,  in  the  garden  directing  the 


634  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

transplanting  of  my  slips,  and  putting  in  seed  just  to 
see  if  mine  will  not  grow  best.  *  *  *  Belle  is  per- 
fectly delighted  with  the  country,  fishing,  riding,  and 
gardening,  and  I  think  she  has  already  improved. 
Sarah  Stover  spent  last  week  with  her,  and  yesterday 
they  went  down  to  see  Grandpa.  Mother  has  not  im- 
proved. I  would  deal  more  in  the  particulars  of  my 
home,  hut  am  very  weary  to-night,  and  am 
"  Affectionately  yours, 

"  Maetha  Patteesox." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  635 


MART  STOYER. 

The  second  daughter  of  President  Johnson  was 
married  in  April,  1852,  to  Mr.  Daniel  Stover,  of  Car- 
ter County,  East  Tennessee.  He  was  "  living  the  inde- 
pendent life  of  a  farmer  in  affluent  circumstances," 
when  the  rumors  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  reached 
his  ears,  and  was  one  of  the  most  fearless  defenders  of 
the  Government  found  in  that  stronghold  of  support- 
ers of  the  Union.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  enroll 
himself  among  the  number  who,  as  an  organization, 
were  known  as  Bridge  burners.  His  consistent  and 
determined  course  attracted  the  attention  of  the  rebel 
authorities,  and  without  any  preparation  he  was  forced 
to  seek  refuse  in  the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee. 
The  bridge  over  the  Holston  was  burned  by  a  band 
headed  by  Mr.  Stover,  the  8th  of  November,  1861. 
This  bridge, so  important  to  the  southern  forces  as  a. 
means  of  receiving  and  sending  supplies,  severed  the 
communication  for  the  time,  and  the  band  were  forced 
to  live  out  in  the  woods.  During  the  inclement  months 
of  November,  December,  and  January,  1861,  they  were 
hunted  as  fugitives  by  rebels,  and  he  there  contracted 
the  disease  of  which  he  afterward  died.  "  It  was  dur- 
ing this  awful  winter  that  Mrs.  Johnson  filled  the  bas- 
ket  with  meat  and  bread,  when  her  daughter,  the  sor- 
rowing wife,  was  so  smitten  with  anguish  that  she  had 
uot  the  strength  to  perform  the  task.     Every  man  who 


636  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

tapped  at  the  door  of  the  lonely  farm-house,  was  sup 
posed  to  be  coming  to  bring  the  news  that  the  son  and 
husband  was  han^in^  to  a  forest  tree."  Most  of  the 
men  who  were  with  Mr.  Stover  were  poor,  and  their 
families,  left  to  the  mercy  of  their  enemies,  would  have 
starved,  had  it  not  been  for  the  care  and  generosity  of 
Mrs.  Stover.  It  was  no  unusual  thins;  for  whole  beeves 
to  be  cooked  and  divided  amongst  these  suffering  wo- 
men  and  children ;  and  to  supply  them  with  pork  and 
corn  meal,  was  her  daily  duty  never  neglected.  The 
resources  of  that  rich  farm  were  taxed  to  the  uttermost 
to  keep  up  with  the  demand  made  upon  it,  but  no 
hungry  applicant  was  ever  turned  off.  When  the  hur- 
ried baking  and  roastings  were  over,  and  their  portions 
bestowed  upon  the  waiting  ones,  it  was  the  custom  of 
the  sad  family  to  bring  out  the  concealed  basket  and 
nil  it  with  food  for  those  who  dared  not  return  to  their 
own  firesides.  After  nightfall,  some  trusty  messenger 
would  stealthily  pick  his  way  to  the  almost  inaccessi- 
ble mountain  passes,  where  they  were  wont  to  assem- 
ble, and  there  rehearse  the  events  of  the  day.  Some- 
times even  this  gratification  was  denied  the  anxious 
family  at  home,  for  the  presence  of  troops  in  quest  of 
their  prey  forbade  any  chance  of  communication,  and 
ofttimes  for  days  Mrs.  Stover  dared  not  send  to  her 
husband  the  food  she  knew  he  suffered  for ;  sleejung 
upon  the  ground,  often  drenched  with  rain,  with  no 
dry  apparel,  and  compelled  to  subsist  upon  the"  berries 
and  nuts  of  the  forest,  the  slow  weary  months  of  win 
ter  passed  away.  Finally,  through  the  intercession  of 
personal  friends  who  were  prominent  rebels,  he  was 


LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE.  637 

allowed  to  come  home  on  parole ;  but  the  cold  and 
sufferings  of  mind  and  body  had  undermined  his  con- 
stitution, and  he  was  troubled  with  a  harsh  grating- 
couch,  which  fell  upon  the  ears  of  his  devoted  wife  like 
a  knell.  Many  who  had  gone  out  with  him  in  the  be- 
ginning of  winter,  had  died  of  exposure ;  the  wintry 
winds  as  they  swept  down  the  bleak  mountain  sides, 
sighed  a  requiem  about  the  decaying  bodies  of  many  a 
husband  and  father  whose  little  ones  waited  impatient- 
ly for  a  return  never  to  be  consummated  on  earth.  The 
skeleton  forms  of  men  who  had  followed  him  full  of 
life  and  hope,  lay  in  many  of  the  passes,  and  his  only 
comfort  to  the  tearful  eyes  and  broken  hearts  of  wives 
and  mothers  was,  that  death  came  quickly  and  spared 
them  torture.  He  often  had  the  sad  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  they  would  never  find  out  that  the  blood 
hounds  had  torn  their  flesh,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air 
fed  upon  their  bodies.  But  he  had  overrated  his 
strength  in  attempting  to  comfort  and  sustain  so  many, 
and  leaving;  his  farm  in  the  hands  of  those  who  would 
care  for  the  families  who  were  dependent  upon  him, 
he  applied  for  and  obtained  permission  to  go  through 
the  lines  with  Mrs.  Johnson's  family,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  go  the  12th  of  October,  1862.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  Kentucky,  where  he  raised  a  regiment,  which 
was  afterward  known  as  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Infan- 
try. "  No  braver  regiment  served  during  the  war,  and 
but  very  few  did  the  country  more  effective  service  ; 
but  before  this  gallant  band  had  time  to  distinguish 
itself  in  any  great  battle,  its  brave,  energetic  Colonel 
had  passed  away,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five.    After 


638  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

the  departure  of  the  family,  the  buildings  were  de* 
stroyed,  and  the  farm  stripped  of  every  thing.  At 
his  death,  his  widow  was  left  with  three  small  children 
and  a  scanty  subsistence." 

After  the  arrival  of  the  family  in  Nashville,  Col- 
onel Stover  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  after  a  lingering 
illness  died  the  18th  of  December,  1864.  His  remains 
were  placed  in  the  vault  by  the  side  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Dr.  Charles  Johnson,  and  both  were  subsequently 
buried  in  Greenville,  East  Tennessee. 

Mrs.  Stover  remained  at  home  after  the  removal 
of  her  fathers  family  to  Washington,  until  the  last  of 
August,  and  then  accompanied  by  her  three  interesting 
children,  took  up  her  residence  at  the  "White  House. 

"  Visitors  at  the  White  House  during  the  past  two 
or  three  years  may  retain  the  memory  of  a  dignified, 
statuesque  blonde,  with  a  few  very  fine  points  which, 
a  fashionable  butterfly  once  said,  would  make  any 
woman  a  belle  if  she  only  knew  how  to  make  the  most 
of  them.  Mrs.  Stover  never  became  a  star  in  fashion- 
able circles,  and  now  that  she  has  left  the  gay  capital, 
perhaps  for  a  life-time,  she  is  remembered  by  those 
who  knew  her  best,  as  a  charming  companion  of  the 
domestic  fireside,  a  true  daughter  and  judicious  mother.'1 

During  the  administration  of  President  Johnson, 
the  White  House  was  brightened  by  the  glad,  happy 
faces  of  children,  and  for  the  first  time  since  its  occupa- 
tion, they  became  a  part  of  the  Society  of  the  House, 
and  exerted  a  powerful  social  influence  outside.  No- 
thing afforded  their  little  friends  more  pleasure  than 
to  be  invited  to  the  President's  House,  and  'the  agree- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  639 

able  manners  of  the  hostesses  and  hosts  rendered  their 
visits  always  delightful. 

Mrs.  Stover's  little  trio,  and  her  sister's  son  and 
daughter,  were  an  attraction  not  to  be  resisted  ;  and 
nothing  pleased  old  acquaintances  more  than  to  be 
invited  into  their  private  apartments,  where  the  games 
and  plays  of  the  young  people  interested  more  sedate 
heads.  During  the  day,  writing  and  music  lessons 
hushed  their  merry  voices,  and  the  tasks  of  indulgent 
mothers  occupied  reasonable  spaces ;  but  after  the  even- 
ing meal  and  the  return  of  the  boys  from  out-door 
sports,  the  merriment  began  to  the  infinite  delight  of 
every  one.  Strangers  who  at  the  formal  receptions 
saw  the  stately,  sometimes  haughty  appearing  daughter 
receiving  with  quiet  grace  the  many  who  drew  near 
for  the  inevitable  shake  of  the  hand,  little  knew  the 
sociability  and  good  nature  hidden  beneath  her  calm 
exterior. 

It  was  a  source  of  enjoyment  and  much  laughter  to 
Mrs.  Stover's  friends  to  watch  her  actions  on  these 
occasions,  especially  when  her  sister  was  not  present. 
Like  a  statue  the  first  part  of  the  evening,  with  a  look 
of  resignation  on  her  face  irresistible,  she  would  grave- 
ly return  the  salutations  proffered,  and  resume  her 
forlorn  expression  soon  as  the  persons  past  on,  only  to 
be  addressed  again  by  other  strangers,  whose  names 
their  owners  sometimes  forgot  and  she  rarely  ever 
heard.  Much  sympathy  she  would  receive  from  kind- 
hearted  acquaintances  who  supposed  her  wearied,  until 
the  band  struck  up  the  last  air,  and  then  they  would 
be  astonished  at- the  glad  light  in  her  eye  and  the  fervor 


640  LADIES    01"    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

with  which  she  would  bow  them  out.  Bantering 
did  no  good,  nor  good-natured  rebukes  from  the  many- 
spies  who  enjoyed  her  agony  and  deprecated  her  evi- 
dent regret  at  parting.  Often  as  she  performed  the 
task,  she  acted  over  her  amusing  roll ;  and  the  last  time 
she  assisted  at  a  reception,  before  her  departure  for 
her  home,  her  penetrating  eye  discovered  the  suppress- 
ed smile,  which  broadened  into  hearty  laughter  as  she 
tried  to  suffer  meekly  the  infliction  she  would  bear  no 
more;  but  true  to  habit,  she  expressed  her  farewells 
with  so  much  impressiveness  that  old  habitues  detected 
her  and  suspicions  were  aroused  as  to  her  sincerity. 
Long  after  the  lights  in  the  parlors  were  out,  she  re- 
peated her  experiences  up-stairs  to  a  friend,  and  con- 
gratulated herself  that  she  was  relieved  from  the  only 
irksome  task  connected  with  her  life  there. 

It  was  from  no  want  of  appreciation  or  just  estimate 
of  her  position,  but  an  unfeigned  diffidence  which  she 
could  not  overcome,  which  kept  her  from  mingling  in 
the  society  of  the  Capital.  And  perhaps  a  feeling  that 
she  was  not  understood,  develojjed  this  disinclination 
to  meet  strangers.  To  persons  to  whom  she  was  at- 
tracted, she  was  gay  and  affectionate,  full  of  interest 
and  thoroughly  devoid  of  affectation.  Her  children 
imbibed  this  trait,  and  none  ever  saw  evidences  of 
deceitfulness  on  the  part  of  any  member  of  the  family. 
A  native  strong  sense,  called  common,  but  in  fact  a 
rarity,  enabled  her  to  discern  the  true  merits  of  indivi- 
duals, and  in  her  conduct  toward  others  to  recognize 
the  truth  of  her  father  s  motto,  that 

'  Worth  makes  the  man,  the  want  of  it  the  fellow." 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  641 

To  devise  new  means  of  enjoyment  for  her  children, 
and  provide  for  their  mental  aud  bodily  needs,  was 
her  first  thought,  and  each  day  was  spent  with  them 
at  some  one  of  their  duties,  often  at  their  dancing 
school,  again  overlooking  their  efforts  at  writing,  never 
so  well  content  as  when  performing  some  conscientious 
duty.  It  was  in  this  character  she  made  so  many  love 
her.  and  people  who  never  knew  her  until  she  went  to 
Washington,  never  weary  now  of  praising  the  young 
mother,  who  so  unaffectedly  acted  her  part  in  the  high 
station  to  which  she  was  called. 

Recollections  of  Mrs.  Stover  will  not  outlive  the 
changes  of  time  in  the  "bosoms  of  the  worldly,  flip- 
pant "  society  "  people,  who  tried  so  vainly  to  enlist  her 
in  their  set ;  but  the  sewing- women  and  trades-people, 
the  attaches  of  the  White  House,  in  all  capacities, 
and  the  servants  who  served  her  four  years,  will  never 
forget  her  generous  liberality  of  manners  and  means ; 
her  polite  civilities  to  all  who  approached  her,  and  the 
evident  interest  she  took  in  their  affairs,  won  her  their 
lasting  regards.  The  ni^ht  before  she  left  the  "  House  " 
for  her  Southern  home,  a  strong  man  who  had  learned 
to  appreciate  her  friendship,  wept  unrestrainedly  as  he 
bade  her  and  her  children  a  last  good-by* 

The  house  was  lonelier  after  her  departure,  and  the 
voices  of  her  little  ones  gladden  the  ears  no  more  of 
those  so  long  accustomed  to  hear  their  noisy  gambols. 
No  President  ever  before  had  in  the  White  House  so 
many  children,  or  as  youthful  ones  as  were  the  five 
grandchildren  of  President  Johnson,  nor  will  there 
ever  be  a  brighter  band  there  again, 
41  " 


642  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Mrs.  Stover,  unlike  her  sister,  is  a  blonde,  with 
very  light  auburn  hair,  and  features  in  keeping  with 
her  temperament.  .  Slight  and  tall,  with  much  dignity 
and  repose  of  manner,  she  attracts  one  with  her  easy, 
independent  air  and  carriage.  Her  voice  is  singularly 
like  Mrs.  Patterson's,  and  although  so  entirely  different 
in  personal  appearance,  she  is  yet  very  often  taken  for 
her  sister.  Gracefully  formed  and  fashioned,  she  pos- 
sesses nature's  most  pleasing  manifestation  of  beauty, 
a  perfect  figure.  She  is  an  exact  representation  of  her 
mother,  possessing  her  finely  shaped  foot  and  hand, 
and  is  not  unlike  her  in  disposition. 

The  summers  were  spent  by  Mrs.  Stover  and  her 
children  in  Tennessee,  during  her  father's  administra- 
tion, and  not  until  the  late  fall  would  she  return  to 
Washington,  preferring  always  the  companionship  of 
old  neighbors  to  the  society  of  comparative  strangers. 
But  when  fairly  launched  in  'the  busy  regime  of  the 
White  House,  no  one  engaged  more  heartily  than  her- 
self in  the  duties  devolving  upon  the  daughters  in  con- 
sequence of  the  illness  of  the  mother. 

To  those  who  penetrated  the  reserve  natural  to 
her,  she  was  a  warm  friend,  but  she  never  made  the 
first  advances,  nor  would  she  try  to  win  the  favor  of 
any.  Many  who  met  her  after  she  moved  to  Wash- 
ington, considered  her  distant  and  haughty,  but  not  so 
the  host  of  welcome  friends  who  understood  her  best. 
They  rightly  valued  the  diffidence  which  she  tried  to 
hide  behind  assumed  coldness.  December  29th,  1868, 
being  the  anniversary  of  President  Johnson's  birth- 
day, his  grandchildren  gave  an  entertainment,  which 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  643 

was  thus  spoken  of:  "The  fashionable  circles  of  Wash- 
ington have  had  a  sensation  to-night,  such  as  has  never 
been  enjoyed  before  under  any  administration.  The 
children  of  the  White  House  entertained  their  little 
friends  with  a  soiree  dansante,  and  the  occasion  was 
one  of  the  highest  enjoyments  to  the  juveniles. 
About  a  week  ago,  the  following  invitation  was  sent  to 
upward  of  three  hundred  children. 

"  '  The  children  of  the  President's  family  request 
Master  (or  Miss) — 's  company  on  Tuesday  evening,  the 
29th  instant,  at  six  o'clock.     E.  S.  V.  P.1 

"The  reception  of  these  invitations  created  quite  a  flut- 
ter among  the  little  folks,  and  the  greatest  exertions  were 
made  by  those  who  had  not  been  honored  with  invita- 
tions, to  obtain  them.  The  ladies  of  the  Executive  Man- 
sion were  considerably  embarrassed  by  requests  from 
grown  people  to  be  included  among  the  invited ;  but  as 
all  the  space  afforded  by  the  East  Kooni  was  needed  for 
the  enjoyment  of  the  children,  of  course  the  number  of 
invitations  issued  was  limited  in  number  and  confined 
exclusively  to  children.  In  sending  forth  the  invi- 
tations, the  President's  children  showed  themselves 
to  be  thoroughly  democratic :  for  the  children  of  ob- 
scure parents  were  included  with  those  belonging  to 
the  dignitaries  of  the  nation.  Promptly  at  six  o'clock 
the  carriages  began  to  arrive.  The  happy  little  ones 
stepped  out  upon  the  carpet  laid  across  the  portico 
from  the  carriage  to  the  door,  filled  with  the  most  joy- 
ous expectancy.  As  the  minutes  rolled  on,  the  arriv- 
als of  carriages  were  more  numerous,  and  the  bustle 
and  excitement  increased.     By  seven  o'clock  quite  a 


644  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOESE. 

brilliant    assemblage    of  juveniles   filled  the  parlors. 

The  President  and  his  daughters.  Mrs.  Patterson  and 
Mrs.  Stover,  mingled  with  the  merry  throng,  and 
seemed  to  contemplate  with  great  pleasure  the  happy 
faces  with  which  they  were  surrounded.  Those  who 
were  present  this  evening  had  the  rare  pleasure  of  be- 
holding Mrs.  Andrew  Johnson,  the  wife  of  the  Presi- 
dent, who  was  drawn  from  her  favorite  retirement  by 
the  prospect  of  sharing  the  happiness  of  the  little 
ones.  The  only  decoration  of  the  East  Room  was  the 
erection  of  a  platform  for  the  musicians,  which  was 
covered  with  pink  tarleton  and  festooned  with  ever- 
greens. At  each  corner  stood  a  flower-stand  contain- 
ing beautiful  bouquets.  The  musicians  were  from  the 
marine  band.  At  seven  o'clock  Professor  Marini, 
dancing  master,  marshalled  the  children  in  the  long 
hall  and  arranged  them  in  couples,  after  which,  the 
grand  promenade  commenced,  led  by  a  son  of  General 
Eastman  and  Miss  Lily  Stover.  The  promenade  was 
succeeded  in  regular  order  by  the  following  pro- 
gramme:  Second,  quadrille,  Faust;  third,  polka,  Von 
Bilse  :  fourth,  schottische,  VTeverein;  fifth  Lanciers, 
AVeingarten;  sixth,  gallop,  John  Strauss;  Intermis- 
sion. 

•;  During  the  intermission,  the  juveniles  were  ushered 
into  the  spacious  State  Dining-room,  where  a  magnifi- 
cent table,  loaded  down  with  cakes,  fruits,  confectionery, 
and  flowers,  and  splendidly  decorated  under  the  able 
management  of  Steward  Thomas,  awaited  them.  The 
happy  party  at  once  proceeded  to  do  full  justice  to  the 
good  things  provided,  and  for  an  hour  that  room  con- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  645 

tained  the  merriest  throng  ever  assembled  around  that 
festive  board.  Among  the  number  present  were  the 
children  of  the  President's  family.  Frank  Johnson, 
Andrew  Patterson,  Andrew  Stover,  Lily  Stover,  and 
Belle  Patterson,  the  latter  being:  also  generally  regard- 
ed  as  the  belle  of  the  party.  This  highlv  interesting 
entertainment  was  given  to  the  President  by  his  grand- 
children in  honor  of  the  anniversary  of  his  birth-day, 
which  occurred  to-day." 

Soon  after  this  brilliant  aiiair,  Mm  Stover  and  her 
sister,  accompanied  by  their  children,  fulfilled  a  prom- 
ise of  long  standing,  and  gladdened  the  little  folks  bv 
a  trip  to  New  York.  A  few  pleasant  days  spent  there, 
and  they  returned  with  a  memory  of  many  bewilder- 
ing sights  to  amuse  and  interest  each  other,  and  left 
behind  them  many  admiring  Mends  who  will  not  soon 
forget  them. 

The  second  levee  of  the  season  was  held  soon  after 
Mrs.  Stover's  return  to  the  White  House,  and  the 
event  was  spoken  of  as  follows,  in  the  papers  of  the 
succeeding  day : 

"  The  second  levee  of  President  Johnson,  which 
was  held  last  evening,  was  an  event  of  more  than  or- 
dinary interest  and  of  unusual  brilliancy.  Bv  eight 
o'clock,  at  which  hour  the  doors  were  opened,  visitors 
began  to  arrive,  and  before  nine  the  elegant  Reception- 
rooms  were  crowded  with  an  assemblage  which,  in 
point  of  numbers  and  respectability,  has  never  been 
surpassed  on  any  similar  occasion.  Anticipating  a 
large  attendance,  the  most  complete  arrangements  had 
been  made  to  avoid  confusion  and  delav  in  the  cloak 


646  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

rooms,  polite  attendants  being  in  readiness  to  receive 
and  check  the  wrappings  of  the  ladies  and  the  coats 
and  hats  of  the  gentlemen.  Without  detention,  the 
visitors  were  enabled  to  reach  the  Blue  Room,  where 
President  Johnson  stood  ready  to  extend  to  all  a  cor- 
dial welcome.  It  is  interesting  to  stand  near  the  en- 
trance to  the  Blue  Parlor,  and  to  note  the  different 
persons  who  pay  their  respects  to  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  a  mighty  Republic.  Without  distinction,  all  are 
invited,  and  every  condition  of  life  is  represented  in 
the  throng  that  passes  before  the  President.  To  every 
one  is  tendered  the  same  gracious  greeting.  High  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  all  are  welcomed  with  a  pleasant 
and  a  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand.  The  humblest  citi- 
zen is  received  as  cordially  as  the  most  distinguished 
Senator.  After  passing  through  the  Blue  and  Green 
Rooms,  the  visitors  spent  the  hours  pleasantly  in  pro- 
menading, and  in  listening  to  the  delightful  music  of 
the  Marine  Band.  Notwithstanding  the  extremely 
disagreeable  weather  outside,  there  were  very  many 
ladies  present,  and  the  display  of  elegant  toilettes  was 
particularly  fine." 

Mrs.  Stover  assisted  the  President,  and  won 
golden  opinions  from  sensible  people  for  her  fault- 
less taste  and  hisrh-neck  costume  in  a  laro^e  crowd  of 
bare  busts.  Elderly  ladies,  whose  truthful  wrinkles, 
despite  their  raven  locks,  betrayed  their  years,  stood 
about  her  in  low  bodices,  exposing  to  view  shoulders 
long  ago  bereft  of  beauty  and  symmetry.  Mothers, 
whose  daughters  walked  beside  them  in  similar  attire, 
gathered  about  her  in  their  flashing  diamonds  and  ex 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  647 

pensive  apparel,  but  no  peer  of  hers  eclipsed  lier  in 
her  rich  simplicity.  Alone  she  stood  so  tastily  ar- 
rayed that  the  poor  who  came  were  not  abashed  by 
her  presence,  nor  the  rich  offended  at  her  rarer  toi- 
lette. The  perfect  harmony  of  her  appearance  pleased 
the  eyes  of  all.  Perhaps  there  will  never  be  another 
family  in  the  Executive  Mansion  so  democratic,  and  so 
consistent  withal,  as  President  Johnson's,  taking  with 
them  into  every  position  the  unassuming  airs  of  thor- 
ough refinement  and  the  geniality  of  Southern  hospi- 
tality. There  are  some  who  have  spoken  and  written 
of  them  as  cold,  formal  people,  and  who  even  now 
pronounce  them  stern  and  distant. 

Too  many,  unacquainted  with  their  real  characters, 
supposed  that  their  unexpected  elevation  would  dis- 
concert them,  and  not  a  few  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
themselves  to  press  their  services  and  experience, 
and  to  initiate  the  ladies  into  the  mysteries  of 
public  receptions.  To  such  they  were  ever  repel- 
lent, deeming  their  own  judgment  sufficient  for  any 
emergency;  but  to  the  many  friends  of  other  days, 
who  found  always  a  welcome  in  their  home,  they  de- 
lighted to  show  the  sunny  side  of  their  natures,  and 
share  with  them  their  stately  home. 

A  little  child,  in  the  mighty  tide  which  poured 
through  the  Blue  Room  at  one  of  the  last  receptions, 
was  led  by  her  father  to  the  presence  of  the  President. 
Frightened  and  shrinking,  she  stood  while  the  father  was 
introduced,  lookiug  as  if  tears  and  a  mother's  arms 
would  only  relieve  her  emotion.  The  President  was 
not  unmindful  of  her  proximity,  or  her  sensations,  and 


64S  LADIES    OF    THE   WHITE    HOUSE. 

tenderly  drawing  her  to  him,  kissed  her.  Quick  as  a 
flash  her  little  face  changed,  and  the  downcast  eyes 
looked  reliantly  into  his,  expressing  so  much  gratitude 
and  love  that  he  smiled  to  see  the  transfiguration.  A 
simple  act  had  altered  the  current  of  her  feelings,  and 
all  the  evening  she  walked  the  parlors  with  a  flushed 
liappv  face,  and  springing  step,  expressing  in  her  man- 
ners the  satisfaction  she  felt. 

Genuine  kindness  of  heart  prompted  the  many  little 
attentions  so  often  bestowed  by  Mrs.  Stover.  Ofttimes 
a  family  from  the  rural  districts  would  approach,  and 
confused  and  embarrassed  in  so  strange  a  place,  they 
would  hesitate  until  the  extended  hand  of  the  appre- 
ciative hostess  would  remove  all  difficulties,  and  they 
would  go  their  way  rejoicing,  in  the  pleasing  reflection 
that  they  had  done  so  well. 

Caring  little  for  the  attractions  of  a  gay  capital, 
Mrs.  Stover  decided  to  leave  the  "White  House  some 
time  before  the  removal  of  the  family,  and  an  enter- 
prising daily  contained  this  announcement :  "  Mrs. 
Stover  and  her  children  left  Washington  this  mornins:, 
for  their  home  in  Tennessee,  via  the  Orange  and  Alex- 
andria Railroad.  They  were  accompanied  to  the  Poto- 
mac Ferry  wharf  by  the  President,  and  Mrs.  Senator 
Patterson,  who  returned  to  the  Executive  Mansion 
after  seeing  the  party  safely  on  the  Alexandria  steam- 
er.1' Once  more  in  her  childhood's  home,  she  began 
preparations  for  the  return  of  her  invalid  mother  the 
following  month,  and  was,  as  she  expressed  it,  "  happy 
as  the  days  were  long."  True  to  the  well-established 
principles  of  her  life,  she  found  solid  comfort  and  peace 


LADIES    OF   THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  649 

in  the  serene  enjoyments  of  home,  and  longed  for  a  re- 
union in  Tennessee  of  their  wandering  family.  Eight 
years  had  passed  since  the  father  had  left  his  home  to 
go  to  his  duties  as  Senator,  and  many  and  varied  were 
the  changes  which  had  passed  over  them.  She  gladly 
aired  the  long-closed  house,  and  built  warm  fires  to 
dry  its  dampness,  and  when  the  shouts  of  the  multi- 
tude, and  the  noise  of  innumerable  voices  told  of  the 
arrival,  the  old  arm  chair  was  wheeled  to  its  accus- 
tomed place,  and  the  heart  of  the  daughter  beat  for 

joy- 
Again  united  and  at  home,  withdrawn  from  pub- 
lic life,  its  cares  and  crosses,  I  am  admonished  that  my 
task  is  done. 

Tried  and  proved  true  in  the  high  station  of  a 
President's  daughter,  she  will  never  be  found  wanting 
in  any  position  in  life,  and  into  her  retirements  the 
kind  wishes  and  sincere  thanks  of  the  American  people 
follow  her. 

Mrs.  Stover  was  married  to  Mr.  Win.  R.  Brown,  of 
Greenville,  the  20th  of  April,  1869.  The  ceremony 
was  performed  at  8  o'clock  p.m.  No  persons  save 
the  members  of  the  family  being  present. 

The  bride  immediately  removed  to  her  husband's 
home,  across  the  street  from  her  parent's  home,  where 
the  kind  wishes  of  all  who  knew  her  followed. 


650  LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 


AIRS.   T.   S.    GRANT. 

The  inauguration  of  General  Grant  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  places  his  wife  in  the  exalted 
social  position  of  Mistress  of  the  White  House.  Mrs. 
Grant's  first  reception,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1S69, 
marked  the  passing  away  of  just  four-score  years  since 
Air-.  Washington  so  gracefully  dispensed  the  ceremo- 
nious hospitality  of  the  Executive  Mansion. 

Her  husband  being  the  youngest  man  who  has  oc- 
1  the  Presidential  office,  he  consequently  brings 
into  the  White  House  the  novelty  of  a  family  of 
youthful  children,  and  a  wife  who  is  still  possessed  of 
the  ambition  to  shine  in  society,  and  who  enjoys  the 
blandishments  and  excitements  of  high  social  position. 
As  yet  there  can  be  little  said  in  regard  to  her  life  at 
the  house  of  the  Presidents,  for  much  of  her  time  has 
been  spent  away  from  the  Capital  since  the  elevation 
of  her  husband,  and  the  season  for  receptions  and  en- 
tertainments has  not  been  inaugurated. 

The  prestige  of  General  Grant's  military  reputa- 
tion adds  lustre  to  his  present  position,  and  can  but 
:-r  any  triumph  of  political  life  the  more  signal, 
since  his  experiences  have  been  of  a  widely  different 
character.     Upon  Mrs.  Grant,  therefore,  devolves  the 

sure  of  performing  a  twofold  part,  in  the  discharge 

rhi  n  the  people  of  this  country  desire  her  entire 

esa 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  651 

JReiterating  the  wish  that  she  will  shed  over  hei 
responsibilities  as  the  presiding  Lady  of  the  White 
House,  the  same  conduct  that  has  distinguished  her 
in  the  domestic  walks  of  private  life,  I  leave  for  the 
present  this  theme,  hoping  at  a  future  day  to  o-ive 
completeness  to  the  chronicle,  and  to  find  only  har- 
mony in  the  development  of  the  future. 


652  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    nOUSE. 


"THE  WHITE  HOUSE." 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Presidents'  House  was 
laid  on  the  13th  of  October,  1T92,  and  the  building 
was  constructed  after  the  designs  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Captain  James  Hobon,  Architect.  After  its 
destruction  by  the  British  in  1814,  the  interior  was 
rebuilt  by  Captain  Hobon.  It  is  located  at  the  inter- 
section of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Connecticut, ,  and 
Vermont  Avenues,  which  radiate  from  this  point  as 
centre. 

The  house  is  constructed  of  Virginia  free-stone, 
which  is  excessively  porous,  and  consequently  would 
cause  great  dampness  in  the  interior,  were  it  not  for  a 
thick  coat  of  white  lead,  which  is  applied  about  once 
in  ten  years  at  an  enormous  expense.  The  rock  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  foundation  was  quarried  by 
Captain  Samuel  Smallwood  (afterward  mayor  of 
Washington),  on  the  banks  of  Rock  creek,  from  the 
lower  or  K-street  bridge,  as  far  as  Lyonshouse  wharf. 
The  grounds  were  formerly  enclosed  with  a  high  stone 
wall.  The  old  sycamore  trees  which  stand  in  the  side- 
walk on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  in  front  of  the  mansion, 
occupy  a  line  running  parallel  with  the  former  site  of 
that  wall.  The  portico  on  the  north  front  was  added 
to  the  buildinc:  during  the  administration  of  President 
Jackson. 

The  latitude  to  the  nearest  second,   38°  53'  12", 


LADIES    OP    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  653 

north.  Longitude  of  the  President's  House  from  the 
Paris  observatory,  793  17'  16",  west. 

In  1793,  about  eighty  paces  west  of  the  brick  arch 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  a  log  was  thrown  over  the 
Tiber,  which  served  as  a  bridge  over  which  the  pro- 
cession passed,  headed  by  General  George  "Washington. 
Here  the  boys  caught  herring  and  other  fish.  The 
waters  of  the  Tiber  occasionally  extended  in  places 
over  the  present  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  the  road  to  the 
Presidents1  House  being  considerably  north  of  it,  and 
alonsr  which  a  traveller  in  that  dav  rni<rht  pass  from  the 
Capitol  square  to  the  former  without  seeing  a  human  be- 
ing. The  house  of  David  Burns,  which  stood  in  the 
grounds  south  of  the  Presidents'  House,  is  now  owned 
by  his  descendants,  and  is  an  object  of  interest  to  all 
who  remember  Washington's  notion  of  him  as  the 
"  obstinate  "  Mr.  Burns. 

In  1796,  as  President  Washington  passed  the 
Presidents'  House  (then  building),  a  salute  of  sixteen 
guns  was  fired  by  the  artillery  company  stationed  at 
that  point. 

The  Presidents'  House  is  situated  in  the  western  part 
of  the  city,  on  a  plot  of  ground  of  twenty  acres;  forty- 
four  feet  above  high-water  mark.  It  has  a  southern  and 
a  northern  front ;  the  southern  commanding  a  lovelv 
view  of  the  Potomac.  On  both  fronts  the  grounds 
are  laid  out  with  taste  and  planted  with  forest-trees 
and  shrubbery.  The  walks  are  of  gravel,  broad  and 
delightful. 

The  mansion  is  two  stories  and  very  lofty,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  front,   and  eighty-six  feet 


054  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

deep.  The  northern  front  is  ornamented  with  a  lofty 
portico  of  four  Ionic  columns  in  front  and  three  on 
either  side.  Beneath  this  portico  drive  the  carriages 
of  visitors  ;  immediately  opposite  the  front  door,  across 
the  open  vestibule  or  hall,  is  the  Reception  Room. 
The  East  Room  is  eighty  feet  long,  forty  feet  wide,  and 
and  twenty-two  high.  There  are  four  mantels  of  mar- 
ble with  Italian  black,  and  gold  fronts,  and  very  hand- 
some grates ;  each  mantel  is  surmounted  with  a  French 
mirror,  the  plates  of  which  measure  one  hundred  and 
fifty-eight  inches,  framed  in  splendid  style.  Four  other 
large  mirrors,  two  at  each  end  of  the  room,  reflect  the 
rays  from  three  large  chandeliers,  from  which  depend 
glass  pendants,  which  glitter  in  the  light  like  dia- 
monds ;  each  chandelier  has  twenty-seven  burners. 

In  front  of  the  Presidents'  House,  in  a  small  en- 
closure, is  the  bronze  statue  of  Jefferson,  presented  to 
the  government  by  Captain  Levy,  of  the  United 
States  army,  who  was,  at  that  time  (1840),  owner  of 
Monticello.  The  statue  stands  on  a  pedestal:  in  his 
left  hand  Jefferson  holds  a  scroll  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  in  his  right  hand  a  pen,  as 
though  he  had  just  finished  that  immortal  instrument, 
and  was  anticipating  the  glorious  results  of  its  influence: 
the  terror  it  would  strike  among  the  foes  of  freedom  ; 
the  strength  with  which  it  would  nerve  the  patriot's 
heart ;  the  bitter  opposition  which  it  would  meet  with 
from  some ;  the  joy  with  which  it  would  be  hailed  by 
more  ;  and,  if  adopted,  the  high  destinies  which  awaited 
Youm*  America. 

It  now  occupies  an  eligible  position,  and  will  long 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  655 

stand  in  honor  alike  of  the  great  man  it  so  faithfully 
represents,  and  of  the  noble  spirit  of  patriotism  that 
secured  and  presented  it  to  the  nation.  It  formerly 
stood  in  the  Eotunda  of  the  Capitol. 

The  Presidents'  House,  during  Mr.  Jefferson's  ad- 
ministration, stood  unenclosed  on  a  piece  of  waste  and 
barren  ground,  separated  from  the  Capitol  by  an  al- 
most impassable  marsh.  That  building  was  not  half 
completed,  and  standing  as  it  did  amidst  the  rough 
masses  of  stone  and  other  materials  collected  for  its 
construction,  and  half  hidden  by  the  venerable  oaks 
that  still  shaded  their  native  soil,  looked  more  like 
a  ruin  in  the  midst  of  its  fallen  fragments  and 
coeval  shades,  than  a  new  and  rising  edifice.  The 
silence  and  solitude  of  the  surrounding  space  were  cal- 
culated to  enforce  this  idea,  for  beyond  the  Capitoljiill 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  city,  as  it  was  called, 
lav  in  a  state  of  nature,  covered  with  thick  groves  and 
forest-trees  wide  and  radiant  plains  with  only  here 
and  there  a  house  along  the  intersecting  ways,  that 
could  not  yet  be  properly  called  streets. 

Thomas  Moore  visited  the  United  States  in  1804, 
and  writes  in  his  letters  to  his  mother,  that  "  the  Presi- 
dent's House  is  encircled  by  a  very  rude  pale,  through 
which  a  common  rustic  stile  introduced  visitors." 

Among  other  pets  presented  to  Mr.  Jefferson  were 
bears,  deers,  turkeys,  and  sheep.  They  were  kept  in 
the  adjoining  enclosures,  now  so  handsomely  improved. 
A  vicious  ram  of  the  flock  killed  a  young  and  promis- 
ing son  of  Mr.  Keer,  the  first  cashier  of  the  old  Uni- 
ted States  Bank:    Mr.  J.  T.  S.  Clark,  in  his  valuable 


656  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

unpublished  manuscript,  says,  the  Executive  Mansion 
was  ojiened  for  the  reception  of  visitors  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1818,  being  the  first  time  since  the  comple- 
tion of  repairs,  subsequent  to  its  destruction  by  the 
British. 

Gas  was  introduced  into  the  'White  House  during 
President  Polk's  administration,  the  29th  of  December, 
1848. 

Until  President  Fillmore's  time  there  was  no  libra- 
ry. The  circular  room  in  the  second  story  contains 
now  a  fine  collection  of  books,  manv  of  them  porch; 
during  President  Buchanan's  administration.  The 
trees  on  the  western  side  of  the  mansion  were  planted 
by  President  John  Quincy  Adams.  At  various  times 
there  have  been  complaints  made  of  the  "judoce""  in 
which  the  Presidents  were  entertained  during  their 
terms,  and  not  a  few  have  been  the  bitter  denuncia- 
tions,  written  and  spoken,  "of  its  in  appropriateness" 
averring  that  it  is  too  fine  and  too  large  for  a  Republi- 
can Chief  Magistrate.  However,  as  the  country  in- 
creases in  population  and  wealth,  these  objections  will 
die  out,  and  as  the  most  interested  persons  say  nothing 
of  its  being  too  large  or  elegant,  it  is  to  be  supposed 
it  will  continue  to  be  the  Executive  Mansion  as  lonsr 
as  the  country  remains  under  its  present  form  of  gov- 
ernment. Congress  has  heretofore  made  an  appro- 
priation after  the  election  of  each  new  President,*  for 
repairing  and  refurnishing  the  mansion.  After  the 
close  of  the  late  civil  war,  it  was  entirely  dismantled 

*  There  was  none  made  dnrinsr  President  TMar's  administration- 


LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE.  657 

of  every  thing  portable  or  valuable.  Afterward  it 
was  renovated,  and  the  first  floor  beautifully  papered 
and  refurnished  under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Patterson, 
the  daughter  of  President  Johnson.  The  green-house 
was  partly  burned  in  the  winter  of  1868,  but  is  now 
greatly  enlarged  and  adorned,  and  adds  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  fine  old  mansion. 

From  the  library-window  on  the  second  floor  the 
view  of  the  Potomac  is  very 'extended  and  magnificent. 
On  a  clear  day,  the  distant  points  of  Fort  Washington 
may  be  dimly  defined,  and  the  old  city  of  Georgetown 
distinctly  seen. 

The  White  House  contains  twenty,  rooms,  includ- 
ing offices,  reception  rooms,  President's  office,  and  li- 
brary. The  first  floor  is  devoted  to  the  public,  consist- 
ing entirely  of  parlors,  state  dining-hall,  and  the 
tamo  us  East  Room.  The  three  parlors,  the  Red, 
Blue,  and  Green  Rooms,  are  historic  apartments  well 
known  to  the  people  of  the  Republic. 

The  first  death  that  occurred  in  the  White  House 
was  that  of  President  Harrison  ;  Mrs.  Tyler's  was  the 
second,  and  the  third  was  President  Taylor's.  Willie 
Lincoln,  the  son  of  President  Lincoln,  added  another 
to  the  sad  list,  and,  we  trust,  is  the  last  to  be  chronicled. 

Now  we  bid  adieu  to  this  classic  mansion,  dear  to 
every  American  heart  of  noble  impulses,  and  refrain 
from  the  work  which  has  grown  so  pleasant  from  asso- 
ciation. The  task  is  complete,  the  night-time  of 
rest  has  come,  and  the  pen  is  loosened  from  the  weary 
hand  to  be  resumed  no  more. 

The  grand  old  White  House  gleams  in  its  ourity 


658  LADIES    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

in  the  midst  of  foliage,  brown  and  gold,  while  the 
glorious  beauty  of  the  Indian  summer  sheds  a  gorgeous- 
ness  about  the  landscape,  and  tints  with  splendor  the 
hills  beyond  the  Potomac.  Over  the  undulating  lawn 
steals  the  fragrance  of  the  rich  exotics,  blooming  in  the 
now  open  green-house. 

It  was  in  early  spring  that  I  came  to  gather  the 
materials  for  my  work,  and  nature's  dress  was  as  color- 
less as  its  white  walls.  Cold  and  cheerless  was  its 
aspect  as  I  greeted  it,  and  writh  fear  and  trembling 
commenced  the  task,  wrought  during  the  summer,  and 
completed  now  when  the  harmony  and  perfection  of 
autumn  is  expressed  in  crimson  leaves  and  azure-tinted 
skies. 

A  mural  of  hope,  it  towers  amid  the  surrounding 
forest-trees,  while  the  years  of  its  glory  and  fame  are 
fast  filling  the  century's  scroll,  and  preparing  to  wel- 
come the  advent  of  the  centenary  morn. 


T he    End. 


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